


Blue Compulsion

by Bluezahera



Series: The Living Gem Sagas [2]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Sense8 (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Flashbacks, Heavy Angst, Immortality, Inspired By Sense8, Main Character is Known by a Different Name, Mentiones of Past Torture, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV First Person, POV Multiple, POV Nick Fury, POV Steve Rogers, POV Tony Stark, Pack Dynamics, Pining, Polyamory Relationship(s), Protective Behavior, Protective Inuyasha, Protective Kagome, Reincarnation, Sarcasm, Sensate Bonds, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Spells & Curses, Supernatural Elements, Swearing, The Avengers (2012) - Freeform, Trust Issues, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2018-11-16 03:37:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 44
Words: 96,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11245521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluezahera/pseuds/Bluezahera
Summary: If I had known everything was going to end up like this, I would have gotten rid of the damned thing. I should have locked it in the most remote, fortified place I could find and throw away the key. That thing is the reason for this whole mess. However, as much as I now hate this situation, I think that the girl is the one that is going to cause even more trouble. I wish I’m wrong.Before the battle started, she said the fact that she has been pulled into this world at this precise moment in time means she was summoned to eliminate a threat that requires her involvement. She said she is going to be drawn back to the place she comes from in the same way she appeared when her presence here is no longer needed. If she is still here, it means this is only the beginning. The implications of it are that things are going to get more complicated from now on. The question is: How can things get any worse?





	1. Prologue – Nick Fury’s Personal Files

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - All Avengers and Inuyasha characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel/Stan Lee

* * *

How did everything end up like this? To say that the last few days have been bad, would be the understatement of the decade. In all my years in the organization, I have seen my fair share of bizarre, incredible things but never anything like what happened. I had witnessed phenomenon that by all accounts should be impossible. A god who fell from the sky and can control lightning; a billionaire in an armored, weaponized, flying suit; and a scientist that turns into a ten feet tall, green monster; are among some of the most bizarre things I have seen. I have come to expect the strange, unexpected, and unbelievable as part of my daily life. After all, expecting the unexpected is practically part of my job’s description. By this point, I thought nothing could catch me by surprise. I was wrong about many things. It’s true that the world keeps getting stranger every day, but this is entirely another level of craziness.

If I had known everything was going to end up like this, I would have gotten rid of the damned thing instead of letting Dr. Selvig experiment on it; I should have locked it in the most remote, fortified place I could find and throw away the key. Out of the worst-case scenarios that were expected, many of which could be possible while dealing with an extraterrestrial energy source, this was the one thing I never thought would become real. A dangerous psychopathic alien god bent on world domination was not something we were prepared to encounter. I knew about the existence of alien gods from our little “incident” with the Asgardian prince last year, so the presence of this other prince didn’t surprise me. However, the person that came after him did take me by surprise. The Girl was something I never imagined. I had a feeling that things would end terribly the moment she appeared. I was right about that. Though, I wish I was wrong.

Before the battle started, she said the fact that she has been pulled into this world at this precise moment in time means she was summoned to eliminate a threat that requires her involvement. She said she is going to be drawn back to the place she comes from in the same way she appeared when her presence here is no longer needed. If she is still here, it means this was only the beginning. The implications of it are that things are going to get more complicated from now on. The question is: How can things get any worse?


	2. Personal Recount

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to keep the identity of the “Girl” a secret, Fury had to leave out a lot of information from the official report with the details of the “incident” that happened at the J.D.F.E. facility. He starts to write a recount of what really happened that night for his personal files, instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fanfiction, so the writing style may not be really good. I'm still learning and improving as I go along. I'm going to try to keep up updating weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

**Saturday,** **May 5, 2012 – One day After New York’s** **“Incident” – Private Written Recount**

* * *

The only way for me to accurately make sense of all of this is to start recounting everything from the day when things started to turn south. I could start at the time the Cube was first taken from the tomb in Norway where it was hidden, but that’s someone else’s story to tell. I don’t have the details of everything that happened during that time anyways, so I’m going to leave that part out. The part I can tell, which is what this recount covers and when it starts, is the one in which I was directly involved. As for the other parts that happened after the Girl appeared, I’m going to leave those to the people who fought in the “incident” in New York.

I’m a busy person. I have an organization to run, and in addition to dealing with this, I also have other problems to attend. I don’t have time to be writing the whole day, so this is going to be my recount of all that happened during the “incident” in the J.D.F.E. facility. This is a recount of everything as I experienced it starting from the beginning of the day the god and the Girl arrived and up until the end of that same day. Because I promised the Girl that I will keep her existence a secret and out of the organization’s database and records, I’m writing this for my personal files for which only I have access. I decided to not reveal her name even in this report and refer to her only as the “Girl.”

I had to write an official report with the details of the “incident” that happened at the J.D.F.E. facility, but I had to omit a lot of information from it to protect the Girl. The official report is the version that everyone except the Avengers knows, so I’m creating this file, which contains recordings of the events. I’m also writing about every detail related to what actually happened. Everything that people think happened is not the complete truth.

The reason why I’m writing this is that if anything were to happen to me, someone needs to make sure the Girl’s identity is kept a secret and to keep an eye on Stark, so he doesn’t make a mess of things. The Girl is the key to the protection of humanity and possibly the entire universe. Her safety is imperative. As of right now, the Avengers are in charge of her security. Her continued presence here on earth after the New York “incident” is supposed to be kept a secret. Everyone needs to continue to believe that she left the planet with Thor. We expended quite a few hours organizing the setup to make it look like Loki, Thor, the Girl, and her other companion were teleported out of the planet by the Tesseract. The Girl even went through the trouble of getting Loki to cooperate and assist her with the creation of an illusion double.

When I ask her about how she got Loki’s compliance, all she said was “Easy. I employed a method of persuasion on him that in here in Midgard is known as blackmail.” She didn’t elaborate on that.

Although I’m really curious about what she could have over Loki to make him behave, I didn’t ask. Over the past few days, I have learned that some things are better left alone and as a mystery. If someone had told me a few days ago that I wouldn't be trying to get information pertaining a person of interest, I would have laughed in his or her face. After what happened with the Tesseract and the Girl, I learned that sometimes wanting to know too much about something can spell major disaster. Like for example, if you find a powerful artifact of unknown origins at the bottom of the ocean, the best thing to do is to ensure that the object is kept hidden and secure instead of having scientists experiment on it. Funny how sometimes it takes a major catastrophe to put things into perspective. If the Girl didn’t tell me what she said to Loki to make him comply, then I’m better off not knowing.

Central Park was selected as the perfect setting for the ruse because it was out in the open. The park was large enough for S.H.I.E.L.D. to be able to arrange for a private departure and at the same time ensure that the press had a perfect view of the event from a safe distance. The stratagem was so well done that if I hadn’t seen the Girl and Loki creating the illusion doubles, no one would have been able to convince me of the fact that two of the people who were teleported by the Tesseract were not even real. At present, the only thing left to do is for Stark to make sure that the Girl keeps a discreet profile, which would be something easy enough to do. The problem with the previous statement is that Stark wouldn’t know the meaning of the word discreet even if it hits him over the head with a sledgehammer.

Since the Girl doesn’t seem to stand Rogers, Stark is the one who is supposed to make sure that she keeps a low profile. I almost had an aneurysm when I heard about that. I told her that if the fate of the world depends on Tony Stark knowing how to be inconspicuous, then the world is going to go to hell in a hand basket. She said she trusts Stark to do the right thing, and Stark smiled at me and said “Pirate. I know how important this is. She will be safe with me, and I won’t mess this up.” As if him saying that he isn’t going to mess things up is supposed to reassure me. In other words, I’m going to stand by my original assessment and say that we are all going to be completely screwed. I’m sure that what Stark is going to do is to contribute to causing trouble; I have no doubt about it. Having those two in the same vicinity is a terrible idea.

The only reason why I allowed that crazy idea is because the Girl doesn’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D. and wouldn’t allow us to keep her in our custody. Although I assured her S.H.I.E.L.D. could keep her safe, she doubts my words on the subject. The other only option was for her to stay with someone trustworthy enough and with the resources to protect her. There is also the issue that she wouldn’t trust anybody she doesn’t know with her safety. Unfortunately, that leaves Stark as the only available option.

If it weren't for the fact that Rogers is going to stay with them to keep an eye on both the Girl and Stark, I would have still insisted on finding another solution. I trust the Captain not to let things get out of hand. I also told Stark that Romanoff is going to be going with them or there was no deal. There is no way I’m going to allow anything like that without me having someone near them to observe and report to me. I need to be able to clean up and keep any situation from getting out of hand and quiet in case Stark screws things up.

I was sure Stark was going to argue about it and never agree to Romanoff staying with them. I was right about the argument part, but I was wrong about the rest. When Stark started his argument, the Girl touched Stark’s arm and told him that she liked Natasha and “can she stay with us? I would like to have at least one female friend, and there are not many people we can trust to keep my identity a secret. Plus, keeping at least most of the members of the Avengers under the same roof is going to help the team to get to know each other and work better in the future.”

Stark just sighed and said “fine, but she stays away from my lab, and there is going to be no snooping in my computer systems.” Except for Miss Potts, I have never seen anybody be able to manage Stark like that. Even Miss Potts has trouble making Stark heed with such ease.

For some reason, when the Girl arrived, she took one look at each team member and immediately decided she liked Stark, said that she and Romanoff are going to be the best of friends, and expressed a strong dislike towards Rogers. Up to this moment, I’m still trying to figure out how that happened. However, it makes me feel a lot better to know that if the Captain manages to be able to keep the Girl in check, then Stark can be managed as well. Though, I’m sure that Captain Rogers is hiding something related to the Girl. Stark is acting suspiciously as well. What could they be hiding? The only thing I’m sure about is that whatever Stark and Rogers are hiding is most probably going to complicate things. This mess started because of the Cube. That damned Cube, Rogers was right about what he said; it should have been left in the ocean.


	3. The Damned Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Director Fury receives a phone call that is a forewarning to a major catastrophe.

**Thursday, May 3, 2012 – Day the Tesseract was Stolen – Private Audio Recounting Recorded that Night at the Site of the J.D.E.F. Facility – Classified Location**

* * *

The day didn’t start badly. It wasn’t like most days, but it was normal enough not to be any different from a very busy day at the base. It didn’t start to get bad until around sundown after I received the damned phone call. Everything went downhill from there. Right now, I’m contemplating which is going to be worse, the “talk” which I’m going to have with the counsel to explain all of this; the headache that is going to result from having to try to manage Stark and his over the top attitude; or dealing with this whole situation in general. I’m not looking forward to any of that, and I hope that getting Stark involved is going to be worth the headache. As much as I think that today was dreadful, I’m sure that the next few days are going to be a lot worse. I’m also 100% sure that all hell is about to break lose, and things are going to start to get a lot more complicated from here on.

Today is one of those days in which I don’t like my job. Don’t get me wrong. I love my job. I’m the director of the world’s most powerful intelligence agency. I get to boss around and intimidate people, the benefits are superb, I get access to technology that is unavailable to the public, and I have a big office with a fantastic view. In all, my job is excellent. Though, in days like this, I reconsider my career choice and the particular circumstances that got me here, in this job position.

As I said before, today didn’t start that bad. The day was busy, more so than others, but not that different than any other day I would have as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. The first thing I encountered this morning, after opening the door to my office, was Deputy Director Hill sitting in one of the chairs facing my desk with a tablet in the desk and a file folder in her hands. She was wearing her catsuit field uniform, which meant that today I had an extra workload to take care of. Since she was expecting to be out in the field today, I was mentally preparing myself to attend to some of her tasks as well as mine. She usually delivers information to me, my orders to the respective departments and people, and make sure that those commands are followed. In general, that wasn’t bad if it wasn’t for the fact that she also serves as the mediator between the upper-level Agents and myself.

As I expected, since Hill wasn’t here I had to hear complaints from the upper-level Agents about common things that I didn’t care about. Usually, I would glare at everyone that approach me, and most of them would take the hint and leave me alone. Although as always, some agents were either brave or stupid enough to try to talk to me about some of those trivial things. I take care of the problem of course. I will tell Hill about it when she comes back. She will fix the issue, and the agent that came to me with the request is going to end up doing a few extra hours of hard training every day for the next few weeks. Never let it be mention that I’m an unjust leader who neglects the problems of the people under him. It just happens that the majority of them don’t come to me to tell me about their problems. I don’t know why, and that is entirely not my fault.

Anyways, going back to the topic, the day continued going like that until around 6:00 PM when I received a call from Agent Coulson. “Director Fury on the Line,” I said when I answered the call.

“Director, this is Agent Coulson. We have a problem with the Tesseract. Doctor Selvig says that it’s behaving unexpectedly.”

“What do you mean by unexpectedly?” I asked.

“It’s activated and unstable.” He said.

“I’m going there to see the situation.”

“When can I expect you to arrive, Sir?”

“In less than two hours. I want a debrief as soon as I arrive, and I want you to give the order for an evacuation if the Tesseract hasn’t been stabilized within the next hour.”

“Ok. Sir,” was Coulson’s reply.

I hung up the phone and called Deputy Hill. “Deputy Hill on the line,” she said in the standard greeting voice.

“Hill. When can you arrive back here at the base?”

“I can be there in thirty minutes.”

“Be here in 10.”

“Is there a problem, Sir?”

“The Tesseract is acting unstable. I need you at the J.D.F.E. facility to help coordinate an evacuation. I’m leaving for the facility in less than thirty minutes, so I will wait for you here.”

“Ok. Sir. I’m going to be back at the base as soon as possible.” She said and then ended the call.

That is how I knew today was going to end up being a terrible day.


	4. Misbehavior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tesseract is misbehaving, a portal is opened, and an unexpected visitor steps out from it.

Coulson was waiting for us at the Helipad platform when Hill and I arrived. He called while we were in route to the J.D.F.E. facility to tell me that the Tesseract is still unstable, and he wanted confirmation for the order to evacuate. I gave him the confirmation and told him we were less than fifteen minutes out. “How bad is it?” I asked him as soon as I saw him.

“That’s the problem. Sir. We don’t know.”

“Ok. Take me to where it is”. I said while we walked towards the elevator. Around us, people are running and rushing by while completing their different tasks. The facility is called Joint Dark Forces Energy, as to why we called it J.D.F.E., which turned out to be a rather ironic name considering the events that followed later on.

J.D.F.E. is a large facility with three floors above ground and three more floors underground. It’s used for weapons development and research on hazardous components. The elevator took us down to the underground levels where the Tesseract is located. Since the underground levels are only used for storage and testing of dangerous weapons, the appearance of the place is that of a commercial building’s mechanical room basement. It has polished gray metal, square and rounded vents and pipes running across the ceiling, with some of them even going from floor to ceiling, and the walls and floors are unpolished concrete.

Coulson continues to explain the situation to me while we walk to the Tesseract’s location. “Doctor Selvig read an energy source in the Tesseract four hours ago.”

“Were there any test authorized in this thing?” I asked.

“He wasn’t testing it. He wasn’t even in the room. It was a spontaneous event.”

“It just turned itself on?” Hill who is walking behind both of us asked.

“What are the energy levels at?” I asked Coulson.

“Climbing. Since he couldn’t shut it down, I ordered the Evac.” Coulson answered.

“How long to get everyone out?”

“The campus should be clear in the next half hour.”

“Do better.” “Yes. Sir.” With that, Coulson left to take care of the last arrangements for the evacuation.

“Sir an evacuation may be futile.” Deputy Hill said.

“Should we tell them to go back to sleep?” I asked her.

“If we can’t control the Tesseract there may not be a minimum safe distance.”

“I need you to make sure that the Phase-Two prototypes are shipped out.”

“Sir. Is that a priority right now?”

“Until such time when the world ends, we will act as if it has every intention to spin on. Clear up the tech below. I want every piece of Phase-Two on a truck and gone.”

“Yes. Sir.” Hill said. She called the two guards by the entrance to the Tesseract room and told them to go with her as she is walking pass me.

I entered the room where the Tesseract is being kept at and called Doctor Selvig. “Talk to me, Doctor.”

“Director,” He said.

“Is there anything we know for certain?”

“The Tesseract is misbehaving.”

“is that supposed to be funny?” “Ohh. It isn't funny at all. The tesseract is not only active. She is….behaving.”

“I assume you pulled the plug.”

“She is an energy source. We turn off the power. She turns it back on. She reaches peak level.”

“You prepared for this Doctor. How to harness energy from space.”

“We don’t know how to harness it. My calculations are far from complete. She is throwing out interference. Radiation. Nothing harmful. Low levels of gamma radiation.”

“That could be harmful. Where is Agent Barton?”

“The Hawk? Up in his nest as usual.” I left him to continue working with the Tesseract while I went looking for Agent Barton.

“Agent Barton, report,” I said on the comms unit.

The room that the Tesseract is being kept in is a large open room at least three stories high, with a dome, and metal beams with trusses on the side of the walls and across the ceiling. The walls and floor are the same as the rest of the underground space. Since at the moment the room is being used as a lab of sorts, it has a few tables with lab equipment and other big machines. At the center of the space, the Tesseract is embedded in the middle of a vertical circular-shaped device with connections that transfer the blue energy of the Cube to the edges of the circle so that the Cube's power can be analyzed and directed.

Barton is perched in one of those metal trusses that wrap around the walls, and he is at least two stories from the ground. Agent Barton came down from his perch using a rope that he attached to one of the trusses. “I gave you this detail so that you could keep a close eye on things,” I told him when he reached my side.

“Sir. I see better from a distance.” He said while walking next to me.

“Have you seen anything that might have set this thing up?” I asked.

“No one come or gone, and Selvig is clean, no contacts. If there is any tampering Sir, is not on this end.”

“At this end?”

“Yeah, the Cube is a doorway to the other end of space. Doors open from both sides.”

After he said that, the Tesseract let out an energy wave that shocked the entire facility. The glowing blue cube started to emit a laser type beam which created a portal that is expanding to at least nine feet high. The portal then began to contract and imploded, giving out a light blue energy shock wave that expanded across the entire room. After the portal had imploded, a man appeared in the place where the portal used to be. The man has black long shoulder length hair that is swept back behind his ears. He looks like an average Caucasian human man with an oval shaped face, blue eyes, and thin lips.

If it weren't for the green and yellow leather clothing he is wearing and the weird looking spear he is holding, he would have appeared no different than anyone else on the planet. The spear has a long sharp, curved, pointed blade at the end and has a blue glowing circular jewel embedded in it. After the man had appeared, the energy left over from the shock wave started to rise towards the ceiling and accumulate in there. The place is going to cave in soon. The energy is eating away the dome’s supporting structure. We are going to be buried under at least one hundred feet of concrete and rubble.


	5. Burden with Glorious Purpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Alien visitor proves to be hostile, and his identity is revealed.

“I’m Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.” That is how the crazy god introduced himself after he brainwashed Barton and killed everyone in the room except for Doctor Selvig, and me. Not that leaving me alive is something he wanted to do. He told Barton to get rid of me, and Barton shot me in the chest. I’m thankful Barton didn’t want to kill me; the man is the best sharpshooter S.H.I.E.L.D. has, and he wouldn’t have missed shooting me in the head from that short distance.

I know from the moment the alien man appeared that this encounter isn’t going to be a good one. He shot an energy beam at me with the spear he is holding in his right hand immediately after I told him to put it down. If it weren't for Barton’s fast reaction of pushing me out of the way by tacking me to the floor, I would have probably been fried to a crisp right now. Based on how the machinery equipment that was behind us looks now after it got hit by the energy beam, I would say that I rather don’t want to find out if that’s true or not. After he had shot the energy beam at me, he made a leap of about twenty feet and landed on one of the Agents shooting at him with a rifle, stabbed the Agent with the spear, threw two knives at the other two Agents with rifles, which hit each of them on the neck. He then kicked another Agent near him into a wall and slashed with the spear the last Agent near him. He sent energy blasts at the scientists and the rest of the Agents in the room.

Imagine my surprise when the man grabbed Agent’s Barton left arm. The same arm Barton was using to hold his handgun. He said something to him in a low tone that I couldn’t hear and touched Barton's chest with the tip of his spear. Barton’s eyes turned completely black, Inhuman, like an animal’s eyes with no irises, and then went back to being normal human eyes again. However, his irises were the same blue color as the energy from the spear. Barton shelved his gun, stood straight, and stayed immobile. Like a toy soldier. I realized that is what Barton is now, a toy soldier, a puppet under this man’s control. At this point, the only people alive in the room are Barton, Selvig, an agent that somehow also managed to avoid getting blasted by Loki’s spear, and me.

While the alien man was distracted brainwashing Agent Barton and the other Agent with his spear, I was removing the Tesseract from the machine it’s attached to and placing it inside a briefcase primarily designed to transport it.

I was in the process of trying to quietly leave with the Tesseract when the alien called my attention. “Please don’t. I still need that.” He said.

“This doesn’t have to be any messier,” I said.

“Of course it does. I have come too far not to.” That’s when he introduced himself.

“Loki, brother of Thor.” Doctor Selvig, who has previously met Thor, said.

“We had no quarrel with your people,” I said.

“An ant has no quarrel with a boot,” Loki answered me.

“You are planning to step on us?”

“I came with glad tidings, of a world made free.”

“Free from what?” I asked him.

“Freedom. Freedom is life’s greatest lie.” He said. “Once you accept that… in your heart…” he tapped Doctor Selvig in the chest with the spear, and then, finished the sentence saying “you will know peace.”

“Yeah, yeah, you say peace. I cannot wait to see what you do with that.” I said. Now, this is the part when things get more complicated; because the accumulated energy in the ceiling gave out another shock wave, and I thought. Ok. This is it. This is the end.


	6. The Living Gem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another alien visitor makes an appearance.

The end didn’t come. Another portal opened instead. I thought that I had already reached my quota of strangeness for the day. I have seen a fair share of unbelievable events. It takes a lot to surprise me. I have already been surprised today, so of course, I thought that I wasn’t going to be surprised again. Nothing could top a god appearing through a portal and brainwashing people in front of me with a magic spear. I was completely wrong on that account; because, what came next went well over the top. I was expecting another Asgardian to make another dramatic entrance. At least I was right about the dramatic entrance part.

A girl inside a shimmering white energy bubble came floating from the portal. Based on the fact that she is unmoving and laying horizontally, with her arms laying on her sides, palms facing towards the ground, I quickly concluded that she is unconscious. She stopped descending from the ceiling at about four feet from the ground and is staying suspended in the air, hovering in place unmoving at that distance from the floor. Her long hair is the only thing about her not static; it’s floating and waving gently all around her as if it’s under a wind current. She is so still that if it weren’t for the barely visible movement of her chest, which is a clear sign of the fact that she is breathing, I would have thought that she is dead.

The Girl is wearing a white dress that looks like a short kimono with blue and red flowers, and she isn’t wearing shoes, which makes sense considering that she is unconscious. Like Loki, she has a human appearance, except her ears, which are pointed like an elf. If she were to be human, she would be Asian, and similar to Agent Romanoff in build, short and curvy in physical appearance. Unlike Loki; however, this girl wouldn’t blend in like a regular human. Her hair is mostly a really light almost white shade of gray with darker highlights of different shades of gray that blend in with the white; It’s straight and very long, and combined with her pointed ears, she would stand out easily.

For a moment, I was so surprised that I completely forgot about Loki up until he spoke “The living gem. The treasure of the nine realms.” He said. He is looking at her with an awe expression, and I’m comforted by the fact that at least he is as surprised by her sudden appearance as I am. Whoever this woman is, she is not in cohorts with Loki. Although, I still don’t like the fact that he knows her.

My relieve turned to dread; however, when Loki came out of his stupor, and his expression was replaced by a gleeful, sinister smile that is clearly a cause for concern and got me really worried. “My, my, what marvelous turn of events. The living gem, here, unconscious, alone, and vulnerable at my feet. The Norns must be smiling at me today.” There it is again, that phrase “the living gem.” I don’t know what it means, but I have a feeling that it isn’t anything good if Loki is so thrilled by it.

As if to answer my doubts, he advanced in her direction completely ignoring my presence and the Tesseract still in my grip. I immediately began to consider my options. I have my Glock handgun, I can shoot him, but I saw how Loki deflected every bullet he was shot at. That would probably end up with me dead and with Loki getting away with the Tesseract and the Girl. My other option is to continue doing what I have been doing, which is stalling him and waiting for the left-over energy from the portal to blow up and bury him along with the Tesseract, the woman, and the rest of us. I opted for the later option.

“You seem surprised. I bet you didn’t expect for her to appear.” I said to him.

Loki smiled again and said “Director, I know you want to know about her. Unfortunately for you, I don’t feel like sharing.” He is smiling and looking at me “I will tell you; However, that anywhere she goes her protector tends to follow.” For some reason, I don’t like the protector part. I think that he means that as a jab at me, a warning of some sort.

“This is an opportunity that fell from the very heavens.” He said looking at her. At that moment, he extended the spear towards her; No doubt his intention was to touch her with it so that he could control her like the others. The energy bubble surrounding the Girl proved to be something more than just some shimmering, pretty looking thing, though. It stopped the spear when it came in contact with it. Loki stopped smiling then.

“I thought you said she is vulnerable now. She doesn’t seem vulnerable to me.” I said to him in an attempt to divert his attention from the Girl. Loki ignored me and tried again. This time the Girl started glowing, and her body began to absorb the power of Loki’s spear. Loki withdrew quickly from her proximity, looking alarmed and turning angry. Now I’m starting to understand Loki’s fascination with her. If the Girl can absorb raw energy like the one from the spear, then she must also be a power source. I understand now why he keeps calling her the living gem. She must be just like the Tesseract.

“Would you look at that? I think the Norns are smiling at someone today, but it isn’t you. If she can do that while she is sleeping, imagine when she is awake.” I said to him. Apparently, I still haven’t met my quota of strange things happening tonight, and the universe is determined on proving me wrong on thinking that I can’t be surprised anymore, yet again. After I finish with my previous sentence, another strange thing started to happen.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "Living Gem" finally appears.


	7. "Like the Pharaohs of Old”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury receives a very unexpected help.

The strange thing that happened is that the Girl is wearing bracelets on each wrist and one of them is melting. The metal bracelet is forming drops of liquid metal and floating in the air on top of the Girl inside the energy bubble. Loki seems as surprised as I am, “what is happening?” He said with his attention still entirely focused on what is going on inside the energy bubble. I’m starting to get worried about what this new development means. By this point, the drops of metal are accumulating together and forming a shape that looks like a Barbie doll made of metal with pointed ears instead of human ears.

As the doll took shape, Barton and the other Agent Loki brainwashed took out their guns and pointed then at the thing. “Aaah. I see. This must be one of the treasure’s weapons. I heard that her protector likes to gift her with sentient weapons that can be hidden on her person. Lower your weapons gentleman. We don’t want to spook our little friend.” Loki said to Barton and the Agent. Both of them lowered their guns but didn’t shelve them. The new piece of information did nothing to appease my worries. Even Loki is looking wary and cautious now.

The “weapon” in question has already finished taking shape and is floating in the air still inside the energy bubble. Based on her angry expression, I can say that it isn’t happy to be awake now, which probably has to do more with Loki’s insane expression and the wicked looking spear in his hand. I really can’t blame her. Anyone with eyes can see that the man is completely deranged. I would be pissed off too if I’m awoken from a nap by some evil psycho trying to brainwash the person I’m with, and the first thing I see when I open my eyes is said psycho pointing a very sharp, dangerous looking spear at me. I guess the fact that the rest of us don’t look any friendly isn’t helping to improve the little doll’s mood.

The metal doll is doing what appears to be analyzing the situation and looking for threats by scanning with her eyes each person in the room for a moment before switching to the next person. She started with Loki and is going over each individual left in the space. After she had looked me over, she went back to watching Loki. My assessment of her actions appears to be right when she paused on each person with a weapon and seen to only spared a brief glance at Dr. Selvig, who is the only one in the room not armed. Loki seems to realize this as well because he lowered the spear, and relaxed his posture. The metal doll thing doesn’t appear to be fooled by that because it looks like it has decided that Loki is the biggest threat in the room. She turned all her attention on him and is opting to ignore the rest of us.

After a moment, when the doll hasn’t made any moves and has only continued to stare at Loki, he smiled again. “How interesting, I have never seen a weapon like this before. It seems to be completely sentient. However, it doesn’t look like is going to attack unless someone makes a move against the Living Gem.” Then, he turned his attention to me and said, “now about the Tesseract. I can’t leave without it, and it looks like our little friend here isn’t happy with us right now. We can avoid any unpleasant accidents if you cooperate and give me the suitcase before it decides that it wants to kill all of us. I’m sure that won’t be much of a problem for me, but everyone else in this room isn’t as resilient as me.”

At that moment, I decided that I’m going to take my chances with the little doll weapon thing since it seems to be the only thing keeping Loki from using the magic spear to try to blast me and take the Tesseract. I know he was lying to me when he said he isn’t worried about it if he is still trying to appear non-threatening. Even though I doubt that something as small as that can do much damage, Loki is weary of it, which meant that the little thing is probably very dangerous as to warrant that reaction from the Asgardian.

I opted to continue with my intention of stalling when I responded to him. “If you are not worried about the little thing then, why are you still not trying to take the Tesseract from me?”

Loki glared at me, raised his spear, and sent a blast with it at me. I was in the process of trying to dodge it when the doll appeared in front of me and stopped the blast from hitting me by creating the same type of energy bubble that is currently enveloping the Girl. Loki stared angrily at it with the spear still raised.

His angry face made me smile. “Well look at that. It looks like out of everyone in this room you are the only one the little doll doesn’t like.” I taunted him. Loki seems to turn even angrier at that.

“Sir. Director Fury is stalling. This place is bound to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us.” Barton who up until that moment has been silent said to Loki.

“Like the Pharaohs of old,” I said.

“He is right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. We got maybe two minutes before this goes critical.” Doctor Selvig added looking at the little doll.

“Get the Tesseract while I deal with our little problem,” Loki said. He then turned towards the Girl and was raising the spear to send a blast to her, when the little doll left my side and attacked him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "little doll" as Fury calls her is an original character I created inspired by the Terminator and Transformers movies. I was more than a half way into finishing the story when the idea for her hit me and I just had to include her. I ended up having to write a lot of extra chapters and rewriting the rest of the story to include her into the plot. When I first created her, she didn't play too much of a role, but she started to integrate herself more into the story the more I wrote. She integrated herself into the story in such a way that she became an important part of the story's plot. 
> 
> This is one of those time when you are writing a story and then you know that is taking a life of its own when the characters you are writing are all taking over and developing in ways you didn't plan at the beginning. The doll has a name which will be revealed later on. I hope you enjoy reading about the "little doll" and learning about her and her "owner" as much as I enjoy writing her.


	8. "Hill. Do you Copy? Barton Went Rogue.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The little doll fights Loki.

The doll is slashing and cutting Loki at such a fast speed that all I can barely see are blurred streaks in the air. It looks like Loki is having a lot of difficulties keeping up with her movements as well. He is trying to fend the little doll off without much success. She has probably transformed herself into a blade because Loki is now sporting cuts and slashes that keep increasing in number. In the meanwhile, Loki is trying to use the spear to block the attacks and is looking for an opening to be able to blast her with it.

Barton used my momentary distraction to shoot me in the chest and take the Tesseract while I’m down. It appeared that the shot distracted the little doll because she paused in her attacks to look in my direction, which was enough time to give Loki the opportunity to get the opening he wanted. I saw as he blasted her, and she collided with the wall facing him that is located on the other side of the room. She slid to the floor looking disoriented but otherwise undamaged. Loki looked one last time in the Girl’s direction and said: “another time, then.” To me, he said, “I will be back for her, Director.” Without doubt referring to the Girl and that he is going to try to brainwash her again.

It looked like the little doll did a number on him, though. He is bleeding from multiple wounds, and a few are deep based on the amount of blood that is oozing from some of them. He has a small cut on his right cheek that is trickling drops of blood on his neck, quite a few slashes and cuts on his chest and along the length of both of his arms, his left shoulder is bleeding heavily, and he is clutching his lower left side, which is also bleeding heavily.

After I had found myself with a bullet in my chest, the little doll picked herself from the floor and flew towards me. “Don’t let them get away,” I said to it. At that, she paused, looked in the direction of Loki, who had the spear raised towards her and waiting to see if she would attack him again. The little doll disregarded Loki and his entourage and turned towards me again.

“Looks like we are free to go now. Our little friend isn’t paying attention to me anymore.” Loki said as he relaxed his posture. After that, he and the group went to exit the room. Barton gave the briefcase to Doctor Selvig as they turned to leave.

“If Loki gets way with the Tesseract then the world is going to be in danger,” I said to her, frustrated with her for not going after Loki. I know that she can stop him if she wants, but for some reason, she finds that making sure that I’m ok is more important than letting the crazy alien get away with an extremely dangerous object that can threaten the safety of everyone on the planet.

The little doll stopped in from of me and hovered mid-air at eye level with me. She scanned me briefly as if making sure I was ok and is now making gestures with her hands in a way that appears to be a form of sign language. I can’t understand what she is saying because I never bothered to learn sign language, so I ignored her and called Deputy Hill on the radio while I’m taking out the bullet stuck in my bulletproof vest. “Hill. Do you copy? Barton went rogue.” I told her over the radio. “He got the Tesseract. Shut it down.”

I turned my attention back to the little doll “This building is about to collapse. Come with me. If you stay here, you will be buried under it.” I told her. She made some hand gestures again and then flew back to be inside of the energy bubble and hovered above the Girl again. She looked at me one last time, melted again, and went back to transforming into a bracelet around the Girl’s wrist.

I began walking in the direction of the Girl but stopped about two feet from the energy barrier. I know that except for the spear, Loki didn’t try to touch the Girl. I came to the conclusion that this is probably because he knows or suspects that the energy shield will blast him or fry him if he comes in contact with it. I knew that the area is about to collapse, and I want to save her.

On the other hand, if I let her here she will get buried under all of this concrete, and it will be one less thing to worry about Loki getting his hands on. Also, I can’t say with certainty that she isn’t hostile. Even though the little doll protected me from Loki, I can’t be sure that her owner will want to help us in the same way. For all I know, the Girl can be another homicidal maniac like Loki. I wish I could say that I went the noble route and tried to save her. Instead, I turned around and ran towards the exit. I know that this is something that is going to keep replaying in my head later on. I made a deliberate choice to leave an unconscious Girl to die in that place. To be buried alive six stories underground.


	9. Level Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The J.D.F.E. facility collapses.

Even if the Girl’s energy shield didn’t harm me, I couldn’t run the risk of her turning up being hostile or Loki managing to get to her and brainwashing her. “We are clear upstairs Sir. You need to go.” I heard Coulson say over the radio while I was running towards the helipad where the helicopter was waiting for me. On my way out of the building, I had to avoid and skip around air vents and metal beams that were falling from the ceiling as the facility shocked again and was starting to show signs of imminent collapse. I made it just in time to the helicopter. The helipad’s floor started to cave in right after I as onboard the helicopter, and it began to take off. From inside the helicopter, I saw as the facility collapsed and caved in as I was flying a few hundred feet from it. For a moment, I thought about the Girl and wondered if she may have survived.

I know the little doll won’t get damaged based on how she was hit by Loki’s spear blast and wasn’t even scratched. The Girl, however, is another story. Maybe the energy barrier protected her from the debris and the concrete. Then, I remembered that the portal exploded, and I knew that the chances of her surviving the explosion even with that shield would have been close to zero. After about a minute, I saw a white energy beam coming from the area where the portal opened, and I knew for sure that it was either the Girl or the little doll.

A few minutes after the white light appeared, I saw a Jeep coming out from the underground road entrance that went into the J.D.F.E. facility, and I knew that it must be Loki’s getaway vehicle. I told the pilot to get in front of them so that I could get a clear shot. Loki sent an energy blast at the helicopter while I was trying to incapacitate Agent Barton who is driving the Jeep. The blast hit the top of the helicopter just below the helices and sent it crashing. I jumped out of the helicopter when it was approaching the ground. I continued shooting the jeep after I hit the ground, but they got away.

“Director. Director Fury. Do you copy? I saw a white energy column coming from the facility,” Said Coulson over the radio.

“The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down.” I said. “Hill?”

“A lot of men still under. I don’t know how many survivors.” I heard Hill’s voice.

“I want a team at the site from where the white beam emanated from. I want them to excavate that area. I also want every living soul not in rescue or excavation looking for that briefcase.”

“Roger that” was Hill’s reply.

“Coulson. I want you with the excavation team. This is a level seven. As of right now, we are at war.” I was expecting Coulson to ask me about the white beam, but all that he said was “yes, Sir.” If my suspicions are correct, he is going to find out about it and its origin very soon. 

The excavation team for the area located at the white beam site wasn’t needed. It turned out that there is a perfectly round hole of about 10 feet in diameter in there. The Girl must have blasted and disintegrated all of the rock and concrete around her for this to be possible. There is not raised debris around the crater to indicate that she just pushed it away from her, and the crater is too perfectly round to indicate an explosion. If the little doll has that kind of power, she would had used it against Loki instead of going after him the way she did, which means that this must be the Girl’s doing.

I now understand with horrifying clarity why Loki is so entranced with the Girl. She is not only a power source but also a weapon of mass destruction. I’m also sure that she continues to be one; because I’m almost one hundred percent sure that she is still alive down there. Not only that, but she is also most probably in the same condition that I last saw her in.

The team was estimating how deep the crater is when I arrived at the site. “Sir, we are trying to calculate how deep this is. I’m going to call a team of scientists to determine the exact cause of this. This was obviously not caused by the explosion. One of the men from the excavation team says they can see some sort of light emanating from the bottom of the crater.” Coulson says, as soon as I arrived at his side.

“There is no need for the scientific team. I know exactly why this crater is here, and I know how deep it is. It’s about forty feet deep.” I said to him.

“What about the light, Sir?”

“I know what that is also. Get everybody out of this area. I want it completely sealed. Nobody comes inside here unless directly authorized by me. Not even high-level agents. Is that clear? Coulson.” “Yes, Sir.”

“As of now you and Hill are the only ones authorized in here. Get a crane with a grabbing arm here as soon as possible, and Coulson, I hope that you know how to operate one of those things because you are going to have to take a speedy course if you don’t.”

“Sir, if I may ask. What is down there?”

“Hopefully, the answer to our problems with the alien god,” I said.


	10. “No World-Conquering Villain Would be Caught Dead Wearing Something Like that.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deputy Hill points out something new about the Girl.

Coulson did manage to get the Girl out of the crater with the crane. I was right when I thought that she is in the same condition as I last saw her. Not only is she not harmed because I can’t see one scratch on her, but she also isn’t even dirty. Her clothes are as pristine as when she first appeared through the portal.

Coulson couldn’t believe his eyes. “Sir. Did this girl, do all of this?” he asked pointing at the crater.

“If by all of this you mean surviving an explosion, being buried under a building, disintegrating everything around her, and creating a hole of about forty feet deep on the ground while being in that state of unconsciousness. Then the answer is yes. Coulson. She did.”

“Was the girl like this when she came through the portal? Sir.”

“Yes. I would like to know how she became like this, thought. Loki said something about a protector that tends to follows her anywhere she goes. Makes me think that this condition of hers is a recent development. Based on the fact that he was looking at me and smiling when he was saying it, I think that whoever that protector of hers is, he is going to be looking for her and is not going to be happy if he finds her like this.”

“A protector? Sir.”

“Loki wasn’t very talkative with information about her. All I know is that she came floating down from the ceiling after the left over accumulated energy of the first portal opened another one. Loki knew her but was surprised by her appearance. He tried to touch her with that spear of his to try to do the same mind control thing he did to Barton and Selvig. Also, he kept calling her the living gem and said that she is the treasure of the nine realms, which means that whoever she is, she is someone very important.”

“Ooh. I see. What are we going to do with her? Sir.”

“I want her transported to the Helicarrier. I want her in the most secure room aboard the Hellicarrier you can get. Not that I think that anything we have can contain her if she wakes up. I still want her close by in case she wakes. Maybe, we can convince her that we are the good guys, and she may decide to help us capture Loki.” I said to Coulson.

“I miss the days when the strangest thing we had was a teenager trying to hack into the Pentagon. Now we have a scientist transforming into a green rage monster, an eccentric billionaire flying inside a metal suit, a World War II hero who was discovered alive after seventy years of being frozen, a god who fell from the sky, and a sleeping Japanese doll looking girl falling from a portal. Things are becoming too complicated.” Coulson said.

“You didn’t mention the crazy god appearing through a portal that wants to enslave humanity. Japanese doll?” I said to him.

“That’s because I didn’t want to include him in the list of the good guys. That kimono is clearly Japanese. Sir”

“So you think that she is one of the good ones.” “I do.”

“Hopefully you are not wrong about that.”

“Hopefully. Sir.”

I turned towards Deputy Hill who is next to Coulson and hasn’t said a word this whole time. “Do you also think that she isn’t hostile?” I asked her.

“I believe that Coulson is right in his assessment of her. Sir. Besides, no world-conquering villain would be caught dead wearing something like that. I think that she is a royalty from some elf world. She even has the crown.”

“What crown?” I ask.

“That crown. Sir.” She said pointing at a headpiece on top of her head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she turns out to be a princess from one of those worlds similar to Asgard. Earth seems to be the preferred destination for exiled royalty from other worlds to land on these days. It may be related to the reason why she is unconscious.”

I examined the Girl more carefully. Now that I am paying more attention, what I thought was a hairpiece before looks more like a small crown. I don’t know how I didn’t notice that before. “Just what we need. Some royal from another planet that comes to cause trouble in ours. I remember the cleaning up that we had to do after Thor’s incident. I’m not looking forward to explaining all of this to the counsel. On second thought, I’m not going to mention her to the counsel. Loki is going to be bad enough. I don’t need to be dealing with them panicking over what happened here with her.” I said.

“Sir. What are going to do about the crater?” Asked Coulson.

“Send a crew up here to cover it up, and make sure that they don’t mention it to anyone,” I answered.

“Ok. Sir.” He said.

“Hill. I also don’t want anyone to have access to the room she is going to be in. For know and until we have enough information about her, the three of us are the only ones that are going to know about her.”

“Roger that. Sir.” She answered me.

“I hope that the purpose this girl is burden with for being here is not as glorious as Loki’s,” I said.

“How is that, Sir?” Coulson asked.

“Turns out that the “glorious” purpose Loki of Asgard is burdened with is to enslave humanity. Hopefully, the purpose of this girl is not as “glorious” as enslaving humanity and something along the lines of helpful. I don’t want to deal with two powerful homicidal aliens bent on world-conquer. One is more than enough, particularly with the kind of power that the Girl seen to have. If she can do all of this while unconscious, I don’t want to imagine what she can do when she is awake. Coulson. When you transport her to the Hellicarrier and into the room, do not to get in contact with that shimmering energy barrier of hers. If she can do what she did to more than a hundred feet of metal and concrete, I don’t want to imagine what she would do to a human.”

“Yes. Sir.” Coulson answered.

“Hill. I need you to go arrange for the Girl’s transportation, and give instructions to the rescue crew while we wait for her transportation.” Then, I remembered about the shape-shifting metal doll, and I know that I’m about to do something that is probably going to get us all killed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By now, most of you who have watched Inuyasha have already figure out who the "Girl" is. I have been leaving clues on most chapters that lead to her identity, what she is, and how she fits into the Marvel Universe. Like for example the way that she was introduced into the story, the description of her powers, and what Loki calls her. Ironically, is Fury who has no ideas as to who she is who gave the biggest clue as to what she is and how she is connected to the Marvel universe. In this series, the events of Inuyasha happened much further back into the past instead of 500 years in the past, so a lot more things happened with Inuyasha characters that are going to be revealed as the story progresses. A lot of those things happened after the events of Inuyasha, and they are the reason why the "Girl" is such an important and well-known character among the Asgardians and the other realms.
> 
> I know that some of you are wondering why I chose to write the story in first person point of view and there is a reason for it, and it plays a part in the series. I decided to start the story with Fury's point of view because of the way I wanted to start the story and how I introduced the characters. Plus, I wanted to do something different from other stories and Fury is one of those characters that are rarely used, and who has a big influence on the Avengers. He is going to be narrating for a little while, but the story isn't about him, so the main characters are going to take over later. Consider Fury as the person who is doing an introduction to the main characters.


	11. "How could that Bracelet be a Weapon?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury tells Coulson about the "little doll."

What I’m thinking about doing that is probably going to get us all killed is to try to wake up the little doll. “One more thing Coulson. We have to make sure to be very careful while moving the girl. She has a weapon with her that can shape itself into objects and looks like is somewhat alive. The little thing doesn’t like people that she thinks are a threat to the Girl.” I said to him.

“I don’t see any weapon. Sir. I thought you mentioned that the Girl is the one who created the white beam.” Coulson said while he was looking at the Girl to see if he could locate the weapon I was talking about.

“I did. I’m almost sure it was the Girl that created it. The weapon thing didn’t demonstrate the type of power that made the beam. I was hoping it would appear again once we recovered the Girl. It beat up Loki in only a few seconds after he took down a room full of highly trained agents without getting even a scratch. I want to try to communicate with it and see if we can convince it to team up with us against Loki.”

“What do you mean by try to communicate with it? Sir.”

“The thing is the most bizarre type of weapon that I had ever seen. Loki referred to it as a sentient weapon, but he also said he had never seen anything like it either. He didn’t know what it is. Under any other circumstances, I would order for it to be captured and contained so that we could analyze it and try to determine its threat level, but this is a desperate situation, and we need all the help we can get. I’m almost sure that it can understand our language because I saw her trying to say something to me with a lot of hand gestures that looked like sign language.”

“Where is the weapon? Sir. I still don’t see anything inside the bubble that could be a weapon.”

“That’s because it doesn’t look like one. The weapon is one of the bracelets that is on her left wrist. It appeared after Loki tried to attack the Girl with that magic spear of his. I wonder if that is how it is activated.” I said to him while I was considering how we are going to do that, and if we should risk the little metal doll waking up.

The little doll may think that we are threating the girl and decide to attack us like she did with Loki. On the other hand, there is the possibility of it recognizing me and not thinking of us as a threat. However, if she decides to attack us, I have no doubt that it will kill us in just a few seconds. If Loki couldn’t even scratch her with the spear, then we have no hope of surviving an attack from her.

“How could that bracelet be a weapon? I don’t see anything out of the ordinary about it. It looks very plain. Are you confident it won’t attack us, like it did with Loki, Sir?” Coulson is right about the bracelet being very plain. It doesn’t have any ornamentation or symbols of any kind.

“After it appeared, the thing put herself in from of me and shielded me from one of Loki’s blast. It can create energy shields that look exactly like that energy bubble that is surrounding the Girl. That was before it beat the hell out of Loki. Barton shot me, and Loki was able to blast her into one of the room’s wall. It got back up without a scratch, and flew towards me to make sure I was alright, I think. I told her not to let Loki get away with the Tesseract, and it paused in mid-air, looked at Loki as if it was contemplating going after him, then turned back towards me and ignored him. If it weren't for the little thing, I would most probably be dead right now. I’m not entirely sure it won’t attack us, but I think that if it sees me again, it may recognize me and not see us as a threat. Can you bring one of the briefcases with a gun silencer equipment? I’m going to shoot the barrier to try to awaken her, and I don’t want the crew hearing it and running inside here thinking we are under attack. We need the little thing to remain calm and not try to kill us.”

“I will be right back Sir.” He replied and left to get the equipment.

After a few minutes, Coulson came back with a briefcase. “Here it’s. Sir.”

“Move closer to me. The bullet may ricochet off of the barrier.” I told Coulson. When I fired the gun, the bullet didn’t Ricochet. It stopped in midair when it hit the energy barrier.


	12. “I feel like I just Stepped into a Terminator Movie.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The little doll is reawakened.

Once I was sure Coulson was out of danger from getting accidentally hit by a possible ricocheted bullet, I shot once at the energy barrier aiming at the bottom part of it so that the bullet wouldn’t hit the Girl just if it went through the barrier. The bullet didn’t ricochet or pass through the barrier. It stopped in mid-air when it hit it and dropped to the floor, instead. As I predicted, the little doll began to form once it felt something hit the barrier. Coulson pulled out his handgun when he saw the bracelet starting to melt, while I was lowering mine.

“Coulson put away your gun. If she thinks you are threating the Girl, she is going to attack. I really hope that all of those hand gestures from before were American Sign Language, or we are going to have a problem when she is fully awake. Since you know sign language, I need you to translate.” I said to him.

“Hopefully, the hand gestures are American Sign Language. Sir. You were right when you said it’s a bizarre type of weapon. I feel like I just stepped into a Terminator movie.” Coulson said while he was putting away his gun.

Once the little metal doll completed transforming, she hovered in the air on top of the girl. Like before, she is taking a brief look over at Coulson and is staying still inside the barrier. This time though, she smiled at me when she saw me. I raised both of my hands to try to show her that we mean no harm while looking directly at her. Next to me, I saw that Coulson was doing the same after he saw me raising my hands.

“Back there, when I asked you not to let Loki go, did you understand what I said?” I asked her. She nodded her head up and down twice as a sign of affirmation still smiling at me. “Can you communicate with us in our language?” She nodded another yes. “My name is Fury. This is Coulson. Do you have a name?” the little doll made the sign gestures again.

Coulson next to me cleared his throat. “You were right Director. The hand gestures are sign language. It’s saying her name, but I don’t understand the word.” Coulson said to me. The little doll frown and made more hand gestures. This time directed at Coulson. Coulson made some hand gestures and then said to me.

“I think I offended her when I referred to her as it. She said she is not it, and that her… companion doesn’t like it either when she hears someone call her it or a thing. Don’t do it in her companion’s presence. She told me her name again. I told her that my intention wasn’t to offend her, and I don’t understand what the gesture for her name is, so I don’t know what to call her.” “I apologize again. We have never seen anything like you, and we don’t know how to refer to you.” He said to her.

“I want to apologize to you on Coulson’s behalf. He is right when he said we have never seen anyone like you. I also want to thank you for saving me from Loki. We don’t understand what the gesture for your name is because we don’t have any word in English for that word. Can we call you little doll?” I said to her remembering how I have been calling her up until then.

She smiled again and made more hand gestures to Coulson. “I was created to be a protector, and I like mortals. The man attacked... her companion. She is using a word for the Girl that I don’t understand. You wanted to keep the man from taking that object. I guess she is referring to the Tesseract when she said that object." Coulson said to me.

"Little doll is fine. My…Her companion also calls me doll sometimes. I know why you have awakened me again. You want me to help you retrieve the object from that man. I’m to protect my…. companion, and I won’t leave her side.” Coulson continued translating. I have to think of something to say to her that will convince her that Loki is a real threat to the Girl. We need the help, and the Girl is obviously of not help to us at the moment. I decided to explain how Loki can use the Tesseract to try to convince her to help us. Although, if she is some kind of AI, she may be programmed only to protect the Girl and ignore anything else. Though, I think she is capable of making choices on her own because she protected me from Loki. She wouldn’t have done so if she can’t make decisions and analyze situations on her own accord.

“We understand you need to prioritize the safety of your companion, but the object the man stole is a weapon capable of mass destruction. He is threatening the lives of millions of people. You mentioned you are a protector. We are also protectors. I know you can understand our need to keep our planet and people safe. The man name is Loki, and he is also a threat to your companion. The weapon he used to attack us both can also take control over the minds of people, and he wants to use it to control your companion. He said he is coming back for her. If you assist us in capturing him, we can help you protect her.” I said to her.

She stood there silently looking at me and then at Coulson as if she was thinking about it. After a moment, she started gesturing with her hands again. “I can see this man Loki is dangerous, but I need to know more about the situation to tell you if I can assist you or not. I’m not familiar with this planet or its people, and I don’t know yet if I can trust your people with the protection of my companion. You could mean her harm as Loki does.” The little thing is a very suspicious thing.

She is right about her suspicions, though. If it were any other situation when the safety of the planet wasn’t on the line and we weren’t in need of her help, we would be busy trying to capture her and the Girl. “If you want to know more about the situation, we could tell you all you want to know. As for your companion, I can assure you we mean her no harm. Loki wants to control her, and is in our best interest to protect her from him.” I told her, which is true. Keeping the Girl away from Loki is in both our interests.

She made the gestures again. I decided then that I’m going to take the time to learn sign language. Communicating with her this way is frustrating because I don’t understand anything she is saying.

“I want to know about the weapon Loki took. I also want to observe your people and how you deal with this situation to learn about your people. I trust that you will answer questions when I ask then and give me information about Loki, but otherwise, I wish to be a silent observer. Once my observations are sufficient to make a reliable choice, then you will have my answer. As for my companion, I know you want to take her from here.  I will allow you to transport her only if you agree to my terms. I have to advise you against trying to harm her in any way. I like mortals, but I will kill anyone that tries to harm her. I wish for you to be… She says she wants me to be her observation partner until she gathers enough facts.” Coulson said.

It seems like I didn’t have any other choice but to agree. The little doll is a lot more intelligent than she appears. I need to be careful with her. On the other hand, I’m planning on involving Stark and the rest of the Avengers on this anyways. I don’t think she can be worse than having an overly curious, and inquisitive Stark at the base. If we can manage Stark, then the little doll won’t be much more of a problem.

“I agree to your terms. We will answer your questions, and you can observe our procedure for dealing with Loki. We will want to know about you and your companion, though.”

“I can tell you about me, but if you wish to know about my companion, then she can tell you about herself when she awakens. Protecting my companion also means protecting her identity.” Coulson and I looked at each other at that. The little doll isn’t going to make things easy for us.

“We have a deal then. We wish to keep your companion’s and your presence a secret, so we have to come up with an excuse to justify your presence. Can you take the shape of other things and still be able to see and listen to your surroundings?” I said to her.

“I think that would be best option to protect her. I can take the shape of anything made of metal as long as the object isn’t too big. I can hear my surroundings no matter what shape I’m on. If you don’t wish for me to be seen by anyone else, I can take this shape while we are alone and keep the other one in the presence of others, and I want to meet the female protector who was here since you trust her to keep my companion a secret.”

“Deputy Hill?” The little doll nodded her head.

“Ok. You can meet her when she gets back. I will tell her about you first, so you don’t startle her. The last thing we need is for Hill to think that you are a threat and try to shoot you. Then that is what we will do. Do we have an agreement then?” I said to her. She nodded her head again.

After that, the little doll melted again, but this time only a part of her transformed back into a bracelet around the Girl’s wrist. The other part stayed melted flowing inside the bubble. Then it flew in front of Coulson, and it reached for his left hand. “Woooh. It’s cold.” He said. While the little doll formed a bracelet and then a ring around his wrist and his index finger, I came to the conclusion that she can divide herself and still function the same. At that moment, I didn’t know about how wrong I was about the little doll being easier to manage than Stark.


	13. Technopath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group aboard the Quinjet.

**Thursday,** **May 3, 2012 – Night the Tesseract was** **Stolen –  Quinjet**

* * *

After the little doll split into two and attached herself to Coulson’s and the Girl’s wrists, I called Hill over the radio, asked her if the Quinjet is ready, and told her to come back. I also informed her about the little doll and that we need to keep her a secret as well. The little doll appeared after that, exchanged greetings with Hill, told Coulson she liked her and transformed back into a bracelet. Once we were aboard the Quinjet, Hill took over piloting the jet and placed it on autopilot once it was in the air.

“We have to keep the Girl close by and in someplace where Loki can’t find her,” I said to Coulson and Hill when we were boarding the Quinjet.

“That is going to be difficult because Agent Barton knows the location of all of S.H.I.E.L.D. bases,” Hill said.

“That’s the reason why I think the Hellicarrier is going to be our best option. It’s large enough for us to use it as an operation base and is mobile. Barton is going to have a hard time finding it if he can’t pinpoint its exact location.”

“I agree, Sir,” Coulson said.

“I want the Avengers on this. I’m going to place Captain Rogers in charge of them. He has the experience of leading a Field Special Operations team. We are also going to have to include Stark. I would have preferred Colonel Rhodes for the Iron suit, but we need Stark’s expertise to locate and keep Loki contained.”

“Hill. Get someone to prepare a debrief package for each of them and give the order for the Helicarrier to be prepared for departure with all the personnel inside and ready by the time we arrive at the Triskelion.”

“Consider it done. Sir,” was Hills' answer.

The little doll chose that moment to shapeshift into a metal doll again. Now that is split into two parts she is smaller than before. “So, what do want to know first?” I asked her going straight to the point.

“I want to know about this Avengers team and information about the object Loki stole. I also want to let you know that if I agree to assist you with Loki, I will not kill him. I will only help you to capture him. I do not like to kill unless it's entirely necessary.” Coulson translated.

 “We don’t want to kill Loki and will welcome your assistance with capturing him. Back there, you said that you were created to protect, who created you? Are there more like you? How were you created? I wish there were an easier way for us to communicate. Sign language isn’t the best way to express specific terms.”

“I can use and interact with technology. I could try to use yours if that is something you would allow.”

“That would be easier. Can you read and write in our language?”

“Yes. I can understand, read, and write any language across the universe.”

“Coulson. Can you get a StarkPad for her?”

“If you can use it, then we can communicate with it, and you can read the files on the Tesseract, and the Avengers.”

“Here it is.” He said to her showing her a powered on Starkpad. A few drops of liquid metal disconnected from her and got inside the Starkpad through its sides.


	14. “My name is Seraphine.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury learns new information about the little doll.

The StarkPad blinked once, the Microsoft Word app opened, and words began to be written on it without the little doll touching the Pad. Coulson gave me the StarkPad when he saw that words were being written on the Pad.

“Now I can communicate properly with you. My name is Seraphine. Thank you for putting all of this afford into protecting my Khalilah.”

“Is that the Girl’s name?” I ask her.

“Khalilah means friend. In our language, it also means family and companion. She is all those things to me. She is my friend, family, and companion. She is precious and mine.” The fact that she said mine caught my attention. I would have thought that she is the Girl’s and not the other way around.

The little doll seems to pick on that because she wrote. “You look confused. My Khalilah explained to me that many people wouldn’t understand why she is mine instead of me being called hers. Sentient weapons have their own personalities and choose their companions instead of their companions choosing them. Our companions must prove that they are worthy of us. I was created as a weapon of protection. I chose my Khalilah when she proved to me that she is willing to protect others with her life, and she is also capable of wielding my power and allow it to reach its true potential without compromising the integrity of the purpose for which I was created. Since that moment, she became mine, mine to protect and to care for. I believe that answers one of your previous question about if yes or no my Khalilah is one of the “good guys.””

“If your purpose is to protect others, then why do you need to think about helping us instead of agreeing right away.”

“I'm inclined to help you. The reason why I want to know about you and your people is that I need to make sure that your intentions are as you said they are. Unless I discover something that indicates that your intentions are not in the right place, I will help you capture Loki and protect your planet. My Khalilah said to me that trust is earned, and I want to make sure that my trust is well placed before I commit to your cause.”

 “So this is like a test to see if you can trust us.” “Yes.” She replied.

“I see no problem with you observing us and learning about our planet and our people.”

“You asked me about my creator and how I was created. I was created by the great weapon’s smith Totosai and my Khalilah. Totosai is the creator of many sentient powerful weapons. I don’t know how I was created only that Totosai created my body and gave me my purpose, and my Khalilah is responsible for the creation of my personality, my mind, and for giving me life. She made me a living being.”

“I’m different from all the other sentient weapons in the regards that I think, feel, and have a personality like a living being instead of being an object with a will of its own like all the others. My Khalilah says that I’m the only living weapon in existence because only Totosai and she know how to create more like me, and they haven’t made other living weapons. She said that after they had created me, they agreed not to make more living weapons. Can I have access to the Avengers information now?”

“Coulson, can you pull up the Avengers files?”

“Give me a few minutes. Sir.” He said.

After that, the rest of the ride to the Triskelion consisted of her reading the files of each Avenger, watching videos of them, learning about the Tesseract and the history of humanity, and her answering some questions. She didn’t give us much information. By the time we arrived at the Triskelion, the only new thing we had learned about her was that she was created twenty years ago. She has been inactive in a hibernated sleep the same as the Girl for about ten years, and she processes information at high speed once she is connected to an electronic device.

During the two hours we were in the flight, she read all the information about each of the Avengers, the Tesseract, and learned the history of humanity and each individual country on the planet up until the mid-1800’s. She didn’t give us any more new information about where she comes from or about her companion saying that this was something for her companion to tell. “When my Khalilah awakens you can ask her about it. That is her answer to give.” She replied when I asked more questions about the Girl.


	15. Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seraphine shows her technopathic abilities to Coulson by playing with the Helicarrier's computer systems. Fury isn't amused.

**Thursday, May 3, 2012 – Night the Tesseract was Stolen –  Helicarrier - Classified Location**

* * *

Of course, I was completely wrong about my assumption that the little doll is going to be easier to manage than Stark. By now, I should have known better than to assume anything concerning our visitors from other planets and to be prepared to expect the unexpected. In other words, as far as these alien visitors go, anything imaginable is possible. The little doll turned out to be an intelligence organization worst nightmare. We found out that she is what is known as a technopath which means that she can control technology. She also doesn’t understand the concept of privacy.

Each one of this Aliens should come with instructions. A little note listing all the warnings that go with each of them would be highly welcome right now. In the little dolls case, the list should say something like: Warning, even though she looks like a cute tiny doll, this is a highly dangerous weapon, amazingly fast, and will probably kill anyone that she thinks is a threat in a few seconds. She is also a technopathic shapeshifter who will infiltrate your computer systems, and take over the controls of all your electronic equipment. She doesn’t understand concepts like privacy breach, and that hacking into government facilities and classified files is something frown on and highly illegal in some planets.

The damned thing has every IT personnel on the Hellicarrier and most of the Agents running around in a panic trying to contain the problem thinking we are under a cyber-attack. The whole Helicarrier descended into chaos within fifteen minutes of the little doll coming onboard the ship.

Seraphine didn’t start to become a headache up until when we were aboard the Helicarrier, and Coulson made the mistake of asking her if she could show him what else she can do with technology. That is when she used the Starkpad to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files and take control of the Helicarrier. All the ship computers are now showing lines of code, and the speakers are playing loud pop music. She apparently really likes Maroon 5 and Katy Perry because after about a minute all the songs being played are from them. I was on the bridge when the panic started. I’m now looking for Coulson with the suspicion that the little doll is responsible for the chaos.

“What the hell is happening?” I asked Coulson as soon as I found him.

“I’m sorry Director. I asked Seraphine if she could show me what else she can do with technology and this happened.” Even in this chaos, the man remains impassive as if seeing an alien who can control technology and cause disruptions in the base is an everyday thing. This is the reason why there is an unspoken rule among the Agents pertaining Coulson. Never, ever play poker or any card games with him. Hence, why I choose him to be there when I awakened the little doll. I knew he would remain composed and nonchalant in her presence. I was counting on that to help keep her calm.

“Seraphine, I want you to stop whatever you are doing to the Helicarrier’s computers right now.”

She transformed again into her doll shape while Coulson gave me the StarkPad so I can read what she says. “This is fun. I’m watching people through the camera surveillance. They are trying to get the computers to the way they were before I started playing with the system. It’s funny. Why can’t I play a little more?” She wrote on the Pad.

Take deep breaths. We are desperate, I’m going to get the Hulk, and Tony Stark involved too. We can deal with a tiny metal doll no more than 6 inches tall. No problem. We need her help. This is a desperate situation, and we need to be in good terms with the doll. I was telling myself all of these in an attempt to keep myself from getting angry. I really don’t have time for this.

“No. This isn’t funny. It isn’t funny at all. You can’t just hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s system. There is something on this planet called privacy breach that we take very seriously. Hacking into government organizations is against the law.” I said to her still irritated.

“What do Hacking means? I only wanted to show Coulson what I can do. I didn’t mean to make you angry.” I sighed. She has most of the Agents on the Helicarrier running around like headless chicken, and she isn’t even actively trying to cause trouble. The tiny thing is an even worse headache than Stark. How can that even be possible? She is like a kid. As if my day couldn’t get any worse, now I’m going to have to make up an excuse as to why the computer systems went haywire on top of everything else that I must deal with.

“Hacking is… You know what since you are so good with computers you can look it up. I don’t have time to deal with this. Now stop what you are doing to the computers and get them back to normal. All of these people need to be looking for Loki.” I said impatiently to her.

“Fine.” She replied petulantly. Immediately, all the systems went back to normal except for the speakers, which are currently playing Marron’s 5 song Animals.

“The music has to go too.”

“I like the music. Do you think Captain Rogers would like it? I want to see his reaction when he hears it. The culture from the 1940’s was so conservative. I just finished reading your Humanity’s history up to the year 2,000. Can I keep the music? Please.” And then she made a pouty face. Like a kid.

“Ok. Fine. You can keep playing the music, but turn down the volume, and no more hacking or playing with my computer systems.”

I’m not even going to tell her to stop watching everything that’s happening in the Helicarrier through the surveillance system. She asked me if she could observe how we deal with this situation with Loki and the Tesseract, and it isn’t worth it getting into an argument with her over the respect of privacy. It’s obvious that she doesn’t understand the concept anyways.

She smiled and wrote. “I will be good.” Then she turned serious and wrote. “I finished gathering enough information to make my choice. But, I want you to answer a question before I give you my answer. I will tell you my answer based on your answer to that question, and I will warn you against lying to me. If you lie, I will know.”

I became wary at that. If she has been playing with the computers, then she must have accessed some of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files. She must know about our little side “project” with the Tesseract.

“Ask your question,” I said to her.

“Why are you using the Tesseract to power dangerous weapons?” She asked what I expected referring to the Phase-two prototypes.

“If you read the files related to the Avenger, then you saw about the visit from the Asgardian Prince Thor last year and how much damage he caused fighting that giant robot. That is the reason why I convinced the World Security Council to order the creation of weapons that are powered by the Tesseract. The weapons were made as a means to protect our planet in case of an Alien invasion. I don’t want to use the weapons unless completely necessary, and that’s the reason why I’m assembling the Avengers. For as long as I remain as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s I will be more than happy to keep those weapons collecting dust in their storage. They are to be the last resort in the line of defense against an Alien threat.”

She stared at me for a moment thinking about my answer and then wrote, “I saw Thor’s file. I have found that your concern for the safety of your planet and its people is genuine. I will help you capture Loki and return the Tesseract. Though I don’t like the Phase-Two weapons, and a large number of the people in your planet has very violent tendencies, I found that many humans are good and try to do the right thing. The organization has bad people, but I believe your heart is in the right place, and you are trying to do good even though I know you are willing to do horrible things to protect your planet and its people. Can I meet Tony Stark? He created an Artificial Intelligence named JARVIS that I would also like to meet. I trust that you will protect my Khalilah while I’m away. If anything happens to her in my absence, I will be very displeased.”

She must have learned enough to be convinced that as she said our top priority is to keep the general safety of the planet and its people even if we are willing to go to great lengths to accomplish it. I was surprised that the little doll learned all of that and about Phase-Two in just a few minutes inside our system, but we got her cooperation. She must have read some files about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s past operations to know all of those things about me. I know the displeased comment is meant as a warning. She has nothing to worry about in that aspect. Even if I want to attempt something against the Girl, I’m not stupid enough to get anywhere near that energy barrier of hers.

I considered for a moment if sending the little doll to meet Stark is worth it and decided that he is better prepared to manage her than us. Plus, the genius billionaire has a bad habit of getting on everyone’s nerves. A little taste of his own medicine will be good for him. I was thinking about sending Coulson to give the debrief package to Stark anyways.

“Fine. You can meet Stark on the condition that you do not tell anyone about any of the information you learned from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files, and you have to very careful as to who you show your ability to infiltrate computer systems. If the knowledge that you can easily hack into any computer system on the planet gets out, you are going to have every government intelligence in this world placing you on their black list as a serious security threat. Make sure to mention that to Stark and tell him to keep your Technopathic ability to himself.”

“In my defense, when we were in the Quinjet I asked if I could access your technology system, and you gave me your approval. Plus, Agent Coulson asked me to show him what I could do with technology. I won’t tell anyone about any of the information I learned from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s file. As a compromise, I will ask for permission from you or a member of the Avengers the next time I want to access a computer system, and I will be careful about who I show my technopathic abilities to. I will tell Stark not to tell anyone about my technopathic ability.”

I thought about that for a few seconds before coming to the conclusion that is the best compromise I’m going to get from her. The fact that the little doll learned about Phase-Two is concerning. She must know about a lot of other things that she didn’t mention. Based on the comment about the organization having bad people, I can assume that she also analyzed some of the profiles for the Agents. She has to have analyzed the top-level Agents at least. I’m not surprised by the comment if that’s the case. A lot of the S.H.I.E.L.D.’s top Agents didn’t get in those positions because they were nice law abiding citizens with cushy lives. They got their positions because they have very specific kind of skills that make them quite dangerous. Some Agents like Romanoff and Barton, have a very bloody, messy past.

She will be a great asset if she can be persuaded to work for us. Although if the Avengers and Loki’s incident get public, S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to have a bureaucratic fight with every single Intelligence Agency on the planet over her regardless if they know about her hacking abilities or not. If she is an AI, maybe she can be programmed or reprogramed. Even Stark is probably going to be onboard on trying to get his hands on her. He is not going to try to use her as a weapon like everyone else is, but the knowledge he can get from her about how she was created could exponentially improve his Iron Man armor. That type of knowledge can revolutionize the weapons-making industry. It's a real loss that Stark doesn’t want anything to do with manufacturing weapons anymore.

“Ok. I guess that is a good compromise.” I said to her after a short pause.

“Coulson. I’m going to ask you to deliver personally Stark’s debrief package. He would love to meet Seraphine. Make sure to let him know not to annoy her, and emphasize to him the importance of keeping a good rapport with her. Maybe, he can find out more about her. Don’t include her in the debrief package of the Avengers, but add her as a member of the team on the private files. If the Hulk can be considered for an Avenger’s position, then she can be as well. Make sure to leave out any information on the Girl as well. Except for Stark, there is no need for the rest of the team to know about either the Girl or Seraphine yet.”

How is it that you understand concepts like cultural behavior and surveillance, but not things like privacy breach and hacking?” I asked her.

“Coulson explained the meaning of culture when I was learning about the history of each individual country and saw that in each country earthlings have different behavioral patterns. I asked him about the different behavioral patterns, and he explained about customs and culture. He also explained about surveillance when I asked him about the cameras. He hasn’t told me what hacking and privacy are.”

“Coulson, while you are en route to Stark’s tower explain to Seraphine about the concepts of privacy breach and hacking.” I have a feeling that even after Coulson explains to her about hacking and privacy breach, she isn’t going to stop doing it.

“I will, sir. What should I tell Stark about how Seraphine came to be on the planet?”

She made signs gestures to Coulson, and wrote on the Pad, “Tell him part of the truth. I was awakened from hibernate sleep when the gem’s powers were used, and the treasure was in danger of being compromised. Since I’m connected to the gem, I was teleported to Earth when the Cube’s power was activated. Stark doesn’t need to know I’m referring to my Kalilah when I said the treasure and the gem. The most probable result is that he is going to assume that the gem and the treasure are an object and think that I’m referring to the Tesseract. That way we won’t be lying to him, and my Kalilah presence can remain secret.”

“Clever. Coulson, memorize that response word for word. That’s what you or Seraphine is going to tell Stark when he asks about how we found her, and why she is helping us to locate Loki and the Tesseract.”

“Ok. Sir,” Coulson replied.

“If we keep the fact that you are helping us a secret until Loki makes his move with the Tesseract, then we can have an advantage and the element of surprise on our side. Loki thinks that your only objective is to protect the Girl. If no one is attacking her, then there is no reason for you to be awake or go after him. So, if he doesn’t see you before then, and he doesn’t hear anyone mention you, he is going to think that you went back to sleep after he left, and you are still inactive. I would like for you to stay hidden and only show yourself to Stark until then if that is possible. Can you do that?” I told Seraphine.

“I see no problem with that strategy. Can I have access to Starks’ computer systems?” I barked out a laugh at that. She is definitely going to keep infiltrating computer systems even after Coulson explains to her why she shouldn't. I prefer for her to play around with Stark’s system than for her to be accessing and reading S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files.

“Yes. You can. Have fun with Stark’s computer system. Seraphine. Welcome to the Avengers team.” I said to her.

She smiled and wrote, “I will do my best to try to work as a member of the team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter so far. I’m trying to keep the chapters between a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 3,000 words. I don't want to make them either too short or too long. I had fun writing this chapter, and I hope I did a good job portraying Fury. Pay attention to Seraphine’s wording in here. She said, “The organization has bad people, but I believe your heart is in the right place, and you are trying to do good even though I know you are willing to do horrible things to protect your planet and its people.” Meaning that she is referring to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury as two different entities. 
> 
> However, Fury thinks she was referring to just S.H.I.E.L.D. in general when she said: “you are trying to do good even though I know you are willing to do horrible things to protect your planet and its people.” He thinks that when she said, “the organization has bad people” she means that she read the files of some of the Agents and saw that some of them have a “bloody past” and are dangerous.
> 
> In other words, she agreed to help with the situation with Loki and the Tesseract because she sees that Fury is “trying to do good” even though she knows that he is “willing to do horrible things to protect the planet and its people.” She said to him before “I need to make sure that your intentions are as you said they are. Unless I discover something that indicates that your intentions are not in the right place, I will help you capture Loki and protect your planet.” Since Fury is the one who asked for her help, she was analyzing Fury’s intentions, not S.H.I.E.L.D.’s because to her they are two separate things. Meaning that since she read a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files, she is aware of what’s happening in “the organization.” Plus, she didn’t say S.H.I.E.L.D. she said “the organization.”
> 
> Though, Seraphine knows that Fury doesn’t have an altruistic intention towards her or the Girl. She warned him again that she would be “displeased” if something were to happen to the Girl while she is away. Since Fury, Coulson, and Hill are the only ones that know about the Girl, she is warning Fury not to try to do anything against the Girl in her absence. She knows that Fury is willing to “do horrible things to protect the planet and its people.” So, she is aware that even though he is not a bad person he won’t hesitate to as he is thinking “program or reprogram” her to “persuade” her to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. if he thinks he can get away with it. As she said, she doesn’t like that Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. are using the Tesseract to power the phase-two weapons, but she knows that his concern for the planet’s safety is genuine.


	16. Compromised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha receives a phone call in the middle of an interrogation.

**Natasha Romanoff - Thursday, May 3, 2012 – Night the** **Tesseract was Stolen – Classified Location in Russia**

* * *

Barton has been compromised. That had been the only thing that has been running through my mind for the last few hours. Clint is in danger. My partner, my best friend, is in danger. There is a homicidal egomaniac out there somewhere with an unlimited power source as dangerous as a weapon of mass destruction, and the only thing I’m worried about right now is the fact that Clint has been compromised. I know I’m not a good person. In fact, this confirms that I’m a completely deplorable person. A good person would be thinking about the safety of the thousands of people that this could affect. A good person would put the safety of those people first instead of thinking about an individual.

I’m still trying to come with a grip on how everything ended up like this. Clint’s assignment was supposed to be easy. Babysit a scientist that was working in a highly secured facility, and make sure that the scientist did his research according to parameters. Easy. Basically, anyone can do that. The only reason why Clint was picked for the job was that the scientist in question already knew Barton. Now everything is about to go to hell in a hand basket, and this is the last thing I expected to encounter today. I expected for my assignment to go wrong. There is always a level of risk involved in the type of interrogation job that I was going to perform today. If something was going to go wrong, it was going to be on my end. Not with Clint. Not him. He is safe, or at least that is what I thought before.

I was in the middle of an interrogation when I received the news. My target was a Russian ring of illegal weapons contraband. I was supposed to get intel on the leader and the transportation methods that the ring is using. The ring consists of members of the military and some government officials. At the moment, I was interrogating general Luchkvov who is one of the main members. I figured earlier on that the best method would be for them to find me trying to spy on them, and let them think that I have been sent by another member of the ring. I wouldn’t have to do much if I let them capture me, and they think they have the upper hand. So, I just need to say a few things and let him talk.

At present, I’m in the 3er floor of an abandoned warehouse sitting on a chair with my hands tied to the back of the chair. The only ones in the building Luchkvov, three of his henchmen, and me. The idiots didn’t even tie my feet and are doing a poor job at trying to intimidate me by giving me a slap in the face.

Luchkvov is talking to me in Russian “ _This is not how I wanted this evening to go_.” He said to me.

 _“I know how you wanted this evening to go. Believe me; this is better.”_ I answered him in Russian pretending to be scared by showing subtle changes in my breathing and quivering a little to give the impression of nervousness.

 _“Who do you work for? Lermontov, yes?”_ He asked me starting to give out information.

One of the thugs reclined my chair towards an opening in the floor to which I have my back to and leads to the ground level three floors below. _“Did he really think we need his permission to move our cargo?”_ Luchkvov asked me.

 _“I thought General Solohov was in charge of the export business,”_ I said.

The thug righted the chair back up when he heard me answer the question. _“Solohov? A bagman, a front. Your outdated information betrays you. The famous black widow. She turned out to be simply another pretty face.”_ Luchkvov said.

 _“You really think I’m pretty?”_ At that moment, the same thug gripped the back of my head with one hand, took hold of my hair, and pulled it down to pull my head back. Then, he grabbed my chin with his other hand and forced my mouth open to examine my teeth while Luchkvov walked back towards a table with tools and picked a pair of large pliers from the table.

 _“Tell Solohov we do not need him to move the tanks. Tell him he is out, well…”_ He said in Russian and then switched to English. “You may need to write it down,” Luchkvov said.

I was thinking that I’m going to have to speed up the interrogation when the phone of one of the other henchmen started ringing. “Yes.” The henchman said when he answered the cell phone. He gave the phone to Luchkvov. “It’s for her.” The thug said to him.

“You listen carefully….” Luchkvov started to say. The person on the other end of the line interrupted him and said something to him that surprised Luchkvov and had him moving his head slowly from side to side to look around the room. He walked towards me and put the cell phone in my left ear.

I grasped the phone by using my shoulder to pressing it to my ear. Once I had the phone in my grasp, Luchkvov took a few steps back. “We need you to come in.” I recognized Coulson’s voice.

“Are you kidding? I’m working!” I replied to him dropping my act of being scared.

“This takes precedence.”

“I’m in the middle of an interrogation, and this moron is giving me everything,” I said looking at Luchkvov.

“I don’t give everything,” Luchkvov said, and I rolled my eyes.

“Look, you can’t pull me out of this right now,” I told Coulson. I was getting close to getting the information I needed. A few more minutes and I would have gotten the name of the person in charge.

“Natasha. Barton has been compromised.” Coulson said, putting an end to my objections to drop the interrogation.

“Let me put you on hold,” I said to him.

I looked at Luchkvov, and he walked towards me. When he stopped in front of me and took the phone, I kicked his leg and then head-butted him when he was coming down. I got up and into a standing position taking the chair with me since my hands were still tied to the back of it. Then, I ran towards the thug who answered the phone and kicked him in the chest. I did a spin under the arm of the second thug to dodge a punch to my head and hit him in the back with the legs of the chair which I was still tied to. Then, I rolled on my knees in the direction of the first thug and came to a stop in front of him with my back to him. I stepped on his foot with one of the chair’s leg and then hit him in the chin with the back of my head. After that, I righted myself back up and spun on my feet to knock him down with the chair’s legs. I then kicked the second thug, did a back flip on the air and broke my chair on the back of the first thug, who I had previously knocked out, when I landed on his back. Now with my free hands, I knocked down the last thug. After that, I grabbed a chain that was hanging from the ceiling, knocked Luchkvov’s head against the metal ramp by the opening on the floor, wrapped the chain around one of his legs, and threw him through the same opening. I picked the cellphone from its location on the floor where it had landed after I knocked down Luchkvov.

“Where’s Barton now?” I asked Coulson while I’m picking my shoes from the floor and walking towards the exit.

“We don’t know,” Coulson said.

“But he is alive,” I said to him, worried about Clint.

“We think. I’ll brief you on everything when you get back. But first, we need you to talk to the big guy.” Coulson said.

“Coulson, you know that Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me,” I told him, thinking that he is referring to the billionaire.

“No, I’ve Stark. You get the big guy.” He answered.

 _“My God,”_ I said in Russian, surprised.

“I don’t like this. Tell me what happened.” I said to Coulson. Whatever Clint got involved in, it’s bad enough to warrant Doctor’s Banner intervention.

“A dangerous alien artifact with a highly destructive potential called the Tesseract has been stolen, and we need his expertise,” He said.

“Is that the only thing you need from him?” I asked him.

“Hopefully. Yes.”

“Is it really that bad? How did Clint get involved in this?” I knew that if Director Fury is thinking about the possibility of getting the Hulk involved it only means that we are facing a global threat.

“It’s world threatening.” He confirmed.

“Barton was in charge of keeping an eye on the Doctor who was studying the device when the incident happened,” Coulson said.

“I want to be part of the team that is going to go after the ones responsible. If Barton has been captured, I want to be there to help rescue him.” I said to him.

“Natasha. It wasn’t a group. It was only one person, and Barton went with him on his own.” 

“Coulson, are you telling me Clint is a traitor, that he betrayed S.H.I.E.L.D? That can’t possibly be true. Clint wouldn’t do something like that, much less help steal a dangerous object that can endanger the lives of thousands.” I replied.

“He didn’t do it willingly. The Director says that Clint and Dr. Selving the scientist in charge of the Tesseract are being controlled by the man who stole it.”

“I don’t understand. Was he coerced into helping to steal the Tesseract?”

“Not exactly. I can’t explain it over the phone. This is something that even I have trouble comprehending, and I was there when the facility went down.”

“You mean to tell me that Clint was an accomplice to not only aiding in stealing a highly dangerous object but also in the destruction of a secured facility.”

“Barton wasn’t at fault. The Director said Clint saved his life on the facility and didn’t really try to kill him even after he was being controlled and given the order to do it.”

“I’m confused,” I told him. I don’t understand any of this. Coulson says that Clint helped steal the artifact, but that the Director says that he and the scientist who was in charge of studying the Tesseract are being controlled, and he isn’t at fault.

“You will understand it when you get the debrief. There is a Quinjet on the way to your location that will be arriving in less than ten minutes. It’s going to take you to Banner’s location. There is a package with information on the Tesseract and Doctor Banner waiting for you in the Quinjet, and I already have a tactical team assembled in the city where the doctor is staying at. The team is a precaution; we need his cooperation. I’m putting you in charge of the operation.” Coulson said.

“Where is Banner located at?” I asked.

“He is in Calcutta. You need to plan the logistics of how to approach him to talk to him. We can’t risk the civilians. Natasha. We will get Clint back.” He said.

“Ok. I’m going to formulate a plan on my way to Banner’s location,” I told him and hung the call.


	17. “Are you Here to Kill me, Miss Romanoff? Because that’s  not Going to Work Out.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha meets Bruce Banner.

**Thursday,** **May 3, 2012 – Night the Tesseract was** **Stolen – Outskirts of Calcutta**

* * *

 When I got outside, there was a car waiting for me. I took the time I was being driven to the Quinjet’s location to collect myself. I have to concentrate on my assignment. Get your head in the game, Romanoff. Barton can take care of himself. I told myself. I took a couple of deep breaths and started planning strategies. By the time I arrived at the Quinjet, I was already centered in the task at hand. During the flight to Calcutta, I went through the information on the Tesseract and Doctor Banner. The file told me that he is treating patients of Malaria by doing house visits and working independently. That gave me the idea of how to get him to a remote location. I then proceeded to call in for the arrangements. By the time I arrived in Calcutta, everything was already set. The only thing I needed to do was to talk to the girl who is going to bring him to the location selected, get the tactical team in place, and wait for the Doctor.

“I should have gotten paid up front for that.” I heard Doctor Banner say after the girl who brought him inside the rundown house jumped out the window, and he realized he has walked into a setup.

“You know for a man that is supposed to be avoiding stress you picked a hell of a place to settle,” I said to him while I walked out of my hiding place and made myself visible to him.

I was expecting him to be different, someone taller and serious perhaps. He is a middle-aged man with glasses and a pleasant slightly self-deprecating smile. He is nothing like the raging green giant that is his alter ego. The Doctor was dressed in a two-piece brown business suit and a red shirt which look like they have seen better days. This man in front of me is so inconspicuous that if I were to had passed him on the street before meeting him today, I wouldn’t have given him a second thought.

He turned around to look at me and said. “Avoiding stress isn’t the secret,” smiling warily.

“What is it? Yoga.” I said to him as he paced slowly back and forth and surveyed the small space with his eyes.

“You brought me to the edge of the city. Smart. I assume the whole place is surrounded.” He said walking towards the window and looking outside.

“It’s just you and me,” I said lying to him and knowing that the team is well hidden and he wouldn’t spot any activity outside to give away that he is right. I need to avoid the Hulk making an appearance, and Doctor Banner knowing that he is surrounded by a heavily armed tactical team isn’t going to help in that matter.

“What about the little actress? Is she a spy too? Do they start out that young?” He asked me pointing at the window which the child used to get out of the dilapidated house.

“I did,” I answered him.

“Who are you?” He asked me.

“Natasha Romanoff.” He looked down, pausing for a moment to think his next question.

“Are you here to kill me, Miss Romanoff? Because that’s not going to work out.” He told me, making an unspoken reference to the Hulk.

“No. Of course not. I’m here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D. How did you find me?”

“We never lost you, Doctor. We kept our distance and even helped keep other interested parties out of your scent.” I was mainly referring to General Ross. The man is like a bloodhound. Once he sets his sights on something, he doesn’t let it go. The Director has had to keep the General occupied and away from Banner by feeding him wrong leads on the Doctor's possible location whenever the General gets close enough to discover where the Doctor is.

“Why?” He asked as to why would S.H.I.E.L.D. take the time to ensure that he is left alone when is clear that the organization would consider him a serious threat.

“Nick Fury seems to trust you, but now we need you to come in.” The Director insists that as long as Banner isn’t causing trouble is better to leave the Doctor alone, and the only thing that the military accomplishes every time they encounter Doctor Banner is provoking a clash with the Hulk. “It’s like someone poking a sleeping bear with a stick. The only thing the idiot is going to accomplish is to wake-up a pissed off Hulk.” I heard the Director say after one of those occasions when he had to yet again misdirect the General away from Banner.

“What if I say no?” is obvious that Banner doesn’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D. not to try to trick him in order to trap him.

“Then, I will persuade you.”

“And what if the… other guy says no?”

“You have more than a year without an incident. I don’t think you want to break that streak.”

“I don’t every time get what I want.”

“Doctor. We are facing a potential global catastrophe.” I said to him while I walked towards where I left my cell phone to show him a picture of the Tesseract that I got from the debrief file. 

“Ooh. Those I actively try to avoid.” He said letting out a chuckle and smiling in that self-deprecating smile which is starting to become familiar.

“This is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet.” I said to him while I was holding the phone with the picture of the Tesseract for him to see. I then put the cell phone face up on a table and slide it to the side to the opposite side of it.

He took out a pair of reading glasses from the inside pocket of his suit jacket and walked towards the table while he put on the glasses. He took the phone to look at the picture as I sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the table. “What does Fury wants me to do with it? Swallow it?” He asked.

“He wants you to find it. It has been taken. It emits a gamma signal that is too weak for us to trace. There is no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that’s where I would be.” I said to him as he looked at me and listened to my explanation.

He took out his glasses and said: “So Fury is not after the monster.”

“Not that he has told me.”

“and he tells you everything.”

“Talk to Fury. He needs you on this.” I said to him deflecting his comment.

“He needs me in a cage.” He said to me displaying that wary, cautious behavior honed from years of hiding and being on the run.

“No one is going to put in a cage,” I said calmly to him.

He banged the table with both fists and yelled: “Stop lying to me!”

I took out the gun I had hidden under the table and pointed it at him. He calmly stood back up again. “I’m sorry. That was mean. I just wanted to see what you would do. Why don’t we do this the easy way when you don’t use that, and the other guy doesn’t make a mess? Ok. Natasha,” He said while he was putting his arms up and moving then in a placating manner. 

“Stand down. We are good here.” I said to the tactical team over the communications unit I had in my ear.

“Just you and me.” He said using that pleasant smile.

He paused and looked at me for a moment. “Ok. I will do it.” He told me.

“We will be taking a jet to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. The jet leaves in an hour. There is a car outside that is going to take you to your home so you can pack what you need. The same car is going to take you to the jet after.” I said.

He walked up to me and extended his hand. “I will see you at the jet,” He said while I shook his hand.

“I will see you there,” I replied. He then turned around and walked to the door, stopped when he reached the entrance, looked at me, inclined his head in my direction, and continued on his way out. I stood there for a few minutes after he left thinking about the significant differences between the dangerous green giant and this nice man.


	18. “Promise me You are Going to be Safe.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony makes a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the warnings in the tags about sense8 elements start to appear in the story.

**Tony Stark - Thursday, May 3, 2012 – Night the Tesseract was Stolen – Manhattan, New York**

* * *

Of course, a megalomaniac psychopath alien has to choose today to come to earth to cause problems and ruin my week. I was about to finally be able to convince Pepper to go on a vacation and dish work for a few days. I have been working non-stop on the energy project for months. Stark industries have finally gone back to normal after that fiasco with Hammer and me being poisoned by the old arc reactor design and acting like a complete insufferable dick.

I need a vacation. I haven't had any proper time off since before my kidnapping. Plus, I want to spend some time off with Pepper, we have very little quality time together outside of having sex. The sex is great, but since she became Stark Industries CEO, her schedule is quite busy. She is always at the office doing meetings or taking care of other important things related to the company. I thought that with being in a stable relationship I would feel a lot less restless, not exactly fulfilled, but at least more... well… stable. I still feel restless, not as bad as before, but still bad enough. The only times when I'm able to relax completely is when Mystic visits me, and she distracts me enough to forget about my projects and just be. Other than that, I always spent my time doing a project or another, and Pepper works just as much.

The only good thing about a crazy Asgardian god stealing a powerful alien object is that this is a definite proof of Mystic's physical existence and the fact that she is also an alien. If I can learn about the origin of the Tesseract, then I will know her origins as well, maybe even finally learn Mystic's real name. Maybe, I can finally put my obsession to rest once I finally solve the mystery that surrounds her. At least I hope that will be the case, but the most probable result will be that I'm going to become even more fixated on her.

I heard her voice a few hours before Coulson's visit. I was in my lab in Stark tower working at putting the final touches on the sustainable energy project I have been working on for the last few months.

"Tony." I heard her say my name once.

I spun my chair in a circle, scanning the room with my eyes, and searching for her. I couldn't see her. Unlike all her other visits, she didn't project her presence in the room, and I wasn't alerted of her appearance.

"Mystic where are you? I can't see you."

"I'm here. I can't project myself to you at the moment. There is something you need to know. Someone is going to visit you soon that needs your help with something important. There is going to be someone else with this person. She is very important to me. She is my Khalilah, like you. Please look after her for me. I want the two of you to protect each other in my absence. Would you do that for me?" She said calmly to me.

"Who is it that needs my help? Is this someone that can see you like me? You never told me about others. I thought I was the only one that you visited. Why can't you project yourself? Are you Ok? There must be something wrong. Tell me what it is! I could help you! Tell me where you are. Give me an address, a name, a hint. Something!" I said to her starting to get worried and frustrated. She must be in trouble. I need to locate her. Why can't I see her? Who is this other she? What kind of trouble is this she in?

"I'm fine. At the moment, I'm as safe as I could be, given the circumstances. Her name is Seraphine, and she is mine. I think you will like her. I hope she likes you too. She is so young, and I worry about her. Tell me that you will keep her from getting into trouble."

"What do you mean by mine? Please tell me she is not your daughter. She is your daughter, isn't she? You never told me you have a daughter. Why didn't you tell me you have a daughter? The keeping things from me thing is really getting on my nerves. What do you mean safe given the circumstances? Tell me where you are. I know that you think you are keeping me safe by staying away, but I can protect you. I can protect you both. I will keep her safe. How young is young? Child, teenager, young adult?" I said to her in a fast, urgent tone.

"She is the equivalent of a nine years old human. I'm safe. That's all I can tell you at this moment. Thank you for taking care of her. I wanted to tell you about her, but I was waiting for the right time."

"When is the "right time" going to be? You know what, never mind. You and I are going to talk about this later. We don't have time for that conversation right now. If Seraphine is your daughter, that means that she isn't human. Is she elfish and silver-haired like you? How do I take care of a nine years old alien child? Does she need a special diet? What does she like and doesn't like? Does she have any especial abilities? I need to prepare a room for her and buy stuff. When is she getting here?" I said to her in rapid fire succession.

My emotions were all over the place and confusing at the moment. On the one hand, I'm angry and disappointed at Mystic for not telling me about Seraphine before. The only reason why she is telling me now is that she has no other choice and Seraphine is coming my way. One the other hand, I'm very excited about the prospect of meeting Seraphine. She is very close to Mystic, which means that I could finally locate Mystic or at least get a clue as to her whereabouts. I'm also feeling anxious about meeting Seraphine. She is very important to Mystic, and I want her to like me. I want her to have a good impression of me. Considering all of my shortcomings, that isn't going to be easy. At the moment, the anxiety is winning.

"She likes technology and computers and playing with electronic systems. She is very smart and is going to love JARVIS. She has elfish features, and yes, she is silver-haired. She has a few special abilities, and she is going to be arriving soon."

"How soon is soon? Hours, days, weeks? At least I know she likes technology. That's good. There are plenty of technology here. She can talk to JARVIS. You haven't mentioned what kind of abilities she has. I need more information. What if she doesn't like me? She is your daughter. I want her to like me. What do I do if she doesn't like me?"

"Tony. Stop worrying. I'm mostly sure she will love you. Don't tell the person that is going to bring her to you that you know me. Don't mention anything about me. I need you to pretend that you don't know about Seraphine either. I don't want them to know that you know me and what you are to me. I need you to keep it a secret." She said to me in that soothing and patient tone of voice that she often uses when she is around me, and I'm feeling anxious or overly eager or every other time when I'm being my hyperactive self.

"What do you mean by you don't want them to know about you? Are you with them? You said you were safe. You need to tell me what is going on, and mostly sure is not sure." I told her not calming down and beginning to get worried again and even more anxious.

"I'm safe. They are on the good side, but I don't trust them not to try to use Seraphine for their own purpose. You are going to know if she likes you if she wants to stay here at the Tower with you after this person brings her to you. As far as I know, she likes the person who is going to bring her to you. If she stays here, it means that she trusts you more. I would like for the two of you to get along. Can you try to convince her to stay at the Tower without letting her know that I want her to stay with you? I want her to choose on her own free will without her feeling that she needs to pick sides because I want her too. Tell me that you will keep the secret from them. Seraphine doesn't know that you know me either, I would like to tell her myself. She will be suspicious if you tell her that you know me, and she won't trust you if you tell her without me saying something to her about you first."

"Fine. I won't tell her that I know you. I won't let them realize that I know anything about you or Seraphine, either. I don't understand. If you think Seraphine is in danger, then I should tell her that you don't trust these people. Why is she with them in the first place?"

"She is with them because they need her help, and they need your help as well. She isn't in danger from them now. I just think that they will try to convince her to do things for them that are not entirely ethical."

"What do you mean by not ethical? Does that have to do with what you said about how she likes computers and electronic systems? I bet that's why they want her help. I bet that she is really good with computers, probably hacker good, and if these people want my help they can forget about it unless it's an end of the world emergency. Also, don't think that this is going to stop me from trying to find you. Now that I know there is a real possibility of me finding you, there is no way I'm going to let it go, and don't think that I noticed that you said now when you mentioned that she isn't in danger."

"Yes. That's because they may try to do something in the future, but they won't try anything at the moment. She is really good with computers. I need to go now. I know you are not going to give up trying to find me, but I need you to promise me that you will be careful and not do anything that will make these people suspicious of you."

"I will. I will be careful. They won't suspect anything. I will also do everything I can to convince Seraphine to stay here and get her away from whoever is bringing her here. I will keep her away from them. She will be safe here. It shouldn't be too hard to do. She is a nine-year-old girl who loves technology. Stark tower is going to be like candy land to her, but you also have to promise me that you will take care of yourself and are going to be safe."

"Ok. I promise. I will be safe. Thank you, Tony. I will visit later when I can."

As it happens with any of my encounters with Mystic, I'm left with more questions than answers. Who are these people that need Seraphine's and my help? How do they know about Mystic? Why did Mystic let Seraphine stay with these people if she doesn't completely trust them? What kind of abilities does Seraphine have? Is it just hacking or are their more abilities? Mystic didn't mention that Seraphine's abilities are powers. She only said abilities. She could have been referring to Seraphine's hacking skills, and nothing else.

How can I get Mystic's location from these people without them suspecting anything? I could try to pretend that I'm willing to help them and then hack into their system to get the information when I get the opportunity. If my suspicions about Seraphine are right, maybe I could even convince her to help me with hacking into their system without telling her why I want to do so. If she doesn't agree, then I can get JARVIS do it for me.

There is no doubt that I will try by any means necessary to locate Mystic. I need to make sure that she is safe. Now that I know there is a possibility for me to meet Mystic in person, I'm not going to let it go. I have been looking for her without any success for close to twenty years. I can pretend that I just want to make sure she is safe, but the truth is that I'm selfish and needy and if I ever find her I'm not going to want to let her go.

I'm probably going to want to have Mystic as close to me as possible just to ensure myself that she is real, and won't disappear into thin air at any moment. Hell. I'm sure I would try to handcuff her to me if she even gives me a hint that she would let me do it. Maybe, I can create a tracking device with a proximity alert that can let me know where she is at. I can hide it inside a piece of jewelry and give it to her as a gift. It has to be something she will always wear, though. A necklace, maybe.

God. I really am selfish and needy. How can I convince Mystic to stay once I find her? There is a big chance that if I find her, and I let her walk out the door, she will disappear again. Considering that fact that it has taken me so many years even to get a real possible clue of her location, it could take me just as many more years to find her again if I do find her at all. No. I won't risk for that to happen, but I need to keep a cool head about this. If I'm practically panicking over a possibility of her disappearing again, and I haven't even found her yet, then I don't want to imagine how it will be if I really do find her, and she wants to leave and go back to the way it has always been between us.

I don't want to imagine how much worse it will feel if she wants to disappear again after I have had her physically in front of me. I'm not sure that I can just go back to the way it is with us now after I have the opportunity to touch her and be in her tangible presence. I know I will probably be too paranoid to let her leave my sight for even a moment. I need to convince her to stay close to me without appearing too desperate, needy, and clingy; or spook her or make her feel pressured and restrained.

Heaven helps me. I want her to want me and choose me. I know that I as sure as hell don't deserve it, but it won't stop me from trying. There is also Seraphine. She is the most pressing matter right now. How do I take care of a nine years old elfish alien female child? And how do I convince her to stay here and dish her current caretakers until I manage to find Mystic? All of that without letting Seraphine and the people she is with know that I know about Mystic and I'm looking for her. This is all going to be a real challenge. By now, I should know that nothing concerning Mystic is ever easy. Good thing I love challenges.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where things start to get into the, What the heck is going on? Category. Since “Mystic” is being really vague about Seraphine, and Tony doesn’t know anything about Seraphine, he is assuming things based on what Mystic said to him. Be patient. Things are going to start to make sense later.


	19. Phantom Presence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashbacks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to add this chapter as a way to provide the background information as to how Tony knows Mystic. The parts in italic are flashback scenes taken from another story in the series which takes place before the events of this story. I added some parts of the scenes to clarify some things about how they met and to give you a glimpse of how their interactions are like.

Mystic has been a phantom presence in my life since I turned eleven years old. In fact, I would like to think that she was the universe’s gift for my eleventh birthday. You know how every other kid gets presents like cell phones, an iPad, and other electronics when they have their birthdays. I got all of that. I also got a beautiful fantasy elf ghost to haunt me. The universe must either really love me or totally hate me. Although, I think that it doesn’t like me, and decided to have some fun tormenting me. Maybe someone up there wanted to make my life into an intergalactic reality show. At least someone is being entertained by my misery because I certainly I’m not.

The first time I saw Mystic, she didn’t tell me her real name and told me to call her Mystic because that is what she would be to me. A mystery. I thought my old man had hired a cosplayer and a special effects crew as a surprise for me. I was sure that the girl was testing some kind of holographic special effects equipment which was hidden somewhere, and she was making sure everything was working perfectly before they started the show downstairs. I thought she was a real person up until she dissolved into a lot of shimmering, floating lights and disappeared into thin air. I still thought that she was some kind of holographic projection even after that. It wasn’t until a few hours later after I realized that she wasn’t at my birthday party or the product of some type of special effects technology, that I came to the conclusion that she wasn’t a physical person.

_I remember seeing her materialize out of thin air from a lot of flowing, shimmering, miniature lights that were disappearing as she was materializing. She was dressed in a long gown which was made of silk and looked like it was taken from a lord of the rings/elf role playing game. The dress was sleeveless, with white and gray colors, a lot of intricate silver metal patterns, and a sheer, white cape looking fabric that fastened like a choker around her neck and draped over her back and arms. She looked at me and smiled all genuinely and happy. “Hi. What is your name?” She asked me._

_I was surprised at that. Everyone at the party knew who I am. If she was hired by my dad, she must know who I am. I told her my name anyways. “Tony,” I said._

_“Is nice to meet you, Tony. I would love to tell you my name, but names have power and mine is my power. In the meanwhile, you may call me Mystic. It means mystery, and that is what I will be to you. Later, when you discover my name you will know why I say that names have power.”_

_“Are you a rich person? I understand why you wouldn’t want to tell me your name, then. Sometimes I wish I could be someone else. I want to be anonymous, too.” I said to her. Referring to my last name and how people treated me because of it and thinking that was the reason why she didn’t tell me her name._

_She smiled again at me. “I like being anonymous sometimes. I have to go, but I will see you later.” She said. I didn’t want her to leave. I liked that she didn’t seem to care that I’m a Stark. Even if I didn’t tell her my last name, once I said that my name is Tony there is no way she wouldn’t know who I am._

_“Wait,” I said. I went to grab that transparent weird looking cape thing she was wearing so I could stop her from leaving. Imagine my surprise when my hand went right thru the cape as if she were a hologram._

_“I will visit you again soon.” She said smiling down at me while I was waving my hands through her image. She disappeared in the same way she appeared. As she was disappearing, I was being surrounded by the same white shimmering lights that were present when she appeared. I stood there waving my hands around me in fascination trying to touch the lights until her and the lights were fully gone._

For the longest time, I thought Mystic was a hallucination. Although by the second time she visited, I had accepted the idea that I was going crazy and decided that it could be much worse. At least she gave me good advice and is smart and pretty.

_The second-time Mystic visited me; I asked her a lot of questions to which she gave vague or no answers. She just smiled contently and patiently while I became increasingly frustrated and kept asking her repeatedly why she wouldn’t answer my questions. “I’m sorry Tony, but I can’t tell you much about me.” It was her reply to my inquiries._

_“You haven’t told me anything about you. You won’t even tell me your real name.” I said to her angrily._

_“You may not believe me now, but I’m trying to protect you by not telling you who I am. Sometimes knowledge can be dangerous.”_

_“You are right I don’t believe you. You are just saying that so I don’t keep asking about you.”_

_She sighed and said. “You need to keep the fact that you can see me a secret. No one can know about it. I will try only to visit you when you are alone. If I do appear when you are around people, you need to act normal and ignore my presence.”_

_“Dahhh. I’m not stupid. If people find out that I’m having hallucinations about an elf girl who dresses like a medieval princess, I’m probably going to end up in a padded room faster that I can blink.”_

_“I’m not a hallucination.”_

_“Of course, you would say that. That just proves that you are one. A hallucination wouldn’t admit that I’m hallucinating. At least, you are a pretty one. I have to keep an eye out in case I start to develop other symptoms. I’m going to have to talk to mom and dad if I start to have mood swims.”_

_“I’m not a hallucination. I want you to think of me as an extra conscience. An advisor of sorts.”_

_“Suuure. If I agree with you, would you go away?”_

_“I can leave now, but I will be back. I found you, and I won’t leave after so many years of waiting.”_

_“Listen, whoever you are. Unless you are like some sort of angel or a spirit, then you are a hallucination. Unfortunately for you, I don’t believe in angels, God, or all that supernatural nonsense that a lot of people like to believe, so that means you are a hallucination.”_

_“I am an angel and a spirit, and I’m not a hallucination.”_

_“Even if I were to believe you, which as I just said I don’t, you can’t be an angel and a spirit at the same time.”_

_“Why can’t I?”_

_“Because angels are heavenly beings and spirits are dead people. Those are two entirely different things.”_

_“You are wrong about spirits being only dead people. A spirit is the projection of a soul. Every being in this universe has a soul, so that means that any being can be a spirit. Since a spirit is a soul’s projection, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the being who is projecting itself is dead. A spirit can be a living being or a dead one. As for being both things, someone can be multiple things at the same time. People can’t be defined by only one label all the time, so yes. I’m an angel and a spirit as well as many other things, but if it please you, you can think of me as either an angel or a spirit because you seem to have the need to identify exactly what and who I am and place a label on me. I have many labels and titles, and I am many things. What you see me as and think of me as is going to be entirely dependent on your point of view. A word can have multiple meaning depending on the context is in. I’m a different thing to anyone that knows me.”_

_“Suuure. Since you say that you are many different things to different people depending on their perspective, my perspective is that angel and spirits don’t exist. Therefore, you are a hallucination. At least you are not a dumb one.”_

_“Interesting how you referred to me as not dumb instead of saying I’m smart.”_

_“That’s because I’m still not entirely convinced you are smart.”_

_“I don’t want to be smart.”_

_“Then, I take it back. You are dumb.”_

_“I don’t want to be either smart or dumb because I prefer to be wise. I don’t just want to have knowledge. I want to have the experience as well as the knowledge. Wisdom is applied experience. I want to have wisdom, and I want for you to be wise as well. I’m supposed to be your extra consciousness and advisor. Here is your first advice. Don’t strive to be knowledgeable, strive to be wise. Don’t try to learn to  just know how to do something. Do it. That is what sets your dad apart from everyone around him. He doesn’t just know how things work. He builds then. Be wise and knowledgeable like your father.”_

_I looked at her for a few seconds analyzing what she just said to me. She is right about my dad and about having wisdom being better than just having knowledge. I want to follow in my father’s footsteps, so that means that I need to be wise like him. I decided that was a good advice, plus I’m already doing that by building things. “I changed my mind again, you are smart,” I told her after I thought about what she said._

_“I already told you, I don’t want to be smart.”_

_“Well, I’m not entirely convinced you are wise, so you are going to be smart until I’m convinced that you are wise. One good advice doesn’t make you wise.” I said to her stubbornly._

_“Good for me then that I’m going to continue giving you advice. If you apply my advice, I will even give then to you often.”_

_“I decided that I’m going to keep you. You are smart and pretty, so you are not that bad. You are still a hallucination, though.” I said deciding then, that as far as hallucinations go, it could be a lot worse. So far it actually wasn’t bad._

_“That is your opinion of me. I’m not that bad. I guess it could be worse.”_

_“Hey. Don’t complain. I should be freaking out right now because I’m hallucinating and talking to you. I should be thinking about a good psychiatrist and medication to get rid of you and go back to normal. I’m thinking that maybe being crazy isn’t so bad.” If I tell my parents about her, then they will put me on treatment, she will go away, and they will think that I’m crazy. No, she is right and is better if I keep this as a secret. I just need to be careful not to be seen talking to her and make sure that the hallucinations don’t get worse._

_“You are not crazy and good for you. I decided that I’m going to keep you too, so we are going to be stuck with each other from now on. You have no choice, but to get used to me.” She said to me smiling with that happy and cheerful way that was starting to become familiar._

_At that moment, I decided that, yes, I was going to keep her. No matter what she told me, she wasn’t going to convince me that she isn’t a hallucination. I was smart enough to come up with a logical reason as to why I keep seeing her. I though that she is probably a way for my mind to cope with my feelings of loneliness and inadequacy. The only thing I still don’t understand is why did my mind conjure a companion who isn’t human. Although, I did have some theories about that, like that her appearance would serve to engage my curiosity and that she was made to look like that to keep my attention. This would explain the reason for my fascination. The other one is simply because it's me. Even at that age, I was an attention seeking brat with an aversion to anything normal and a proclivity to making everything I do to be extravagant. Of course, I would create an imaginary friend who is different and unique from everyone else._

The reason why I accepted the possibility of being crazy and that I was hallucinating her so easily was because, from the very beginning, I have been fascinated with her. After that second visit, Mystic continued to visit me regularly mostly when I was alone which happened to be a lot. Sometimes she would appear when I was around people, and that’s when I discovered that other than me, nobody could see her. In those occasions when she visited me when I was around people, she would just remain quiet choosing just to watch things. I would ignore her presence and not respond to her comments in the few occasions when she did speak. 

I thought that after a while I would eventually get used to her presence and my fascination with her would die down. On the contrary, as time progressed, my reaction to her has only increased in intensity. What started as an innocent awe curiosity, has turned over the years into an unhealthy fixation, an intense craving that has less to do with satisfying my ever-constant intellectual interest to her enigmatic existence and more to do with physical desire. She is gorgeous in a fairytale fantasy way that leaves no doubt as to the fact that she isn’t human. She is jailbait young, small, and delicate looking, with an hourglass body, elfish features, and a pretty, heart-shaped face with Asian features.

Over the years I have known her, and with my numerous interactions with her, I have discovered that not only is she stunning, she is also witty, smart, feisty, wise, kind, cheerful, and patient. Plus, she also knows how to deal with my over the top personality and sarcastic non-stop comments. In other words, she is radiant, beautiful, and perfect, which is mainly the reason why even after proving her existence, I’m still not completely sure that she is real. She must be a product of my lonely, hyperactive, and attention seeking mind.

As I said before, I was finishing a sustainable energy project when Mystic spoke to me. I was still pondering about all the information she gave me and wondering how to go about getting Seraphine to choose to stay here instead of going back with the mystery person who is going to come seeking my aid. I also need to formulate a plan of how to get the information of Mystic’s location without any of the mystery people finding out about it. Pepper walked into the lab at that moment.

Pepper. Ohh, God. I forgot about Pepper! The woman with whom I’m currently in a steady, serious relationship. I was flooded with guilt at that moment. How am I going to explain this to her? Can I explain this to her? Why does this have to happen now? Why couldn’t this situation with Mystic happen a few years ago before Afghanistan when I just another spoiled millionaire? Why now when I’m this damage and broken individual, and I’m in a relationship with a wonderful woman who doesn’t deserve this? On the other hand, thinking about it, I think that it’s for the best that I didn’t find Mystic before Afghanistan.

If I had found Mystic before Afghanistan, I would have lost her. I was too much of an egotistic, self-centered, spoiled asshole back then for me not to screw any chance I might have had with her. Hell, I’m still an egotistic spoiled asshole, but at least now I understand how precious Mystic is. I know that I will never take her for granted now, and I will do anything and everything in my power to keep her. Maybe that’s the problem now. Now I’m damaged and needier. Once I find her, will I be able to let her go? How far will I go to keep her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I do a good job at portraying Tony’s character. He is one of those characters that are complicated and with a lot of depth to them. Originally, I was planning to do only two or three chapters with him and move on to another character, but Tony is being Tony, and he just took over. The idea of having him have a close connection with Mystic hit me when I was already a good way into more than halfway done with the story. In this story, I changed Tony’s age to his early thirties. He met Mystic when he was 11 and has known her for twenty-one years, so he is 32 in the story.
> 
> Just like with Seraphine, I have to rewrite most of the story to include this plot and add a backstory to it. I wanted to add some dramatic tension, and the ideas of him knowing Mystic and being all conflicted about it because he has to pretend that he doesn’t know her especially when he finally finds her was just too good to let go, and I have to include it in the story. Now, he is going to be keeping secrets from the others while at the same time having to try to keep his attraction for Mystic contained, and also trying to keep her by all means necessary from disappearing and becoming a “phantom presence” in his life again. Plus, there is also the fact that Mystic is keeping a lot of things from Tony, and his reaction when he finds out about what and who she is and all the others things she hasn’t told him is going to add more tension.
> 
> I also got the idea of Tony meeting Seraphine before the fight with Loki, and I had to add more chapters to include it. I wanted to include his reaction to meeting her, the interactions between the two of them, and how he would react to her technopathic abilities. This means that now I’m still halfway through writing the story because I spent all the time I could have taken to finish writing it including Seraphine and Tony’s taking over and doing their own thing and adding much more chapters than I anticipated.


	20. Easier Said Than Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Pepper talk about the sustainable energy project.

“Tony. I thought you said you were done with the project; You still need to test it to see if it works, and we have to plan the marketing if the test works. If it isn't finished, then it can wait until tomorrow. It’s getting late. You said we would spend the day together. You have been working on that project most of the day, instead.” Pepper said to me as she was approaching me.

I can’t tell Pepper about Seraphine and Mystic. At least not yet, if ever. Plus, I still didn’t have a definite proof about either of their physical existence. There is also the fact that I don’t want anyone to know about my true connection with Mystic even after I have the proof of her existence. I’m still very selfish and don’t want to share the knowledge of how much of an intimate connection I have with her with anybody. Not even Pepper. The phantom visits are something that is purely only ours, and I want to keep it that way. Also, Mystic asked me to keep the fact that we know each other a secret. Right now, I need to act like nothing is different and everything is normal or as normal as things in my life are.

I put on a smile, followed along, and spun my chair around. “Pepper. Light of my life. I just finished with it. It’s only going to take me about twenty minutes at the most to get the tower connected to the arc reactor, and that’s it. After that, we can spend the rest of the night celebrating the project’s success.” I said to her smiling in an enthusiastic tone of voice.

“Ok. Half an hour. No more.” She said in her serious, commanding tone.

“That’s my girl,” I said to her getting up from my chair, walking towards her, taking hold of both arms, and kissing her left cheek when I reached her.

“Talking about girls, by any chance do you know what a miniature one would like, a nine-year-old one for example. I would like to donate some of the profits from this to orphan children. Maybe I can have the Stark Foundation rebuilt some institutions. It isn’t like I need all the money of the profits from this, and I want to do something that would benefit the community with this. I want to donate a percentage of it to a good cause. I think five percent of the profits would be a good amount. What do you think?” I said to her coming up with an excuse as to why I want to know about female children. Plus, the donation thing does sound like something that I can do. As I said to her, is not like I need all the money from the profits of this project. I let go of her arms, walked backward, and leaned against the table with the computers monitors I was looking at moments ago.

“That’s very generous and is also going to be excellent for publicity and the sustainable energy project general PR. Why do you want to know about little girls? Is there anything, in particular, you are thinking of doing for the girls for the Stark Foundation to do in the institutions?”

“No. nothing in particular. I want to know about girls because I know at least some things about boys, but women are complicated even the little ones. I just want some general information, so I can come up with some ideas to run then by the Stark Foundation team.”

“Well. I don’t have much experience with children given that I don’t have any and I’m an only child. I’m probably not the best person to get a good opinion about what children are like.”

“I wanted to get some inside from a female perspective, I guess. Never mind, I can think about the donation tomorrow after I had tested the project on the Stark Tower. Let’s get the show on the road.” I said to her walking towards my Iron Man suit. I want to finish the last thing I have to do with the energy project and enjoy the night with Pepper. She is leaving for Washington early tomorrow, and I can go back to obsessing over Mystic tomorrow. Although, I don’t think I’m going to get much sleep with the possibility of finding Mystic so close at hand. After so many years searching for her, I think I can wait a few more hours. Plus, there is the fact that I’m feeling guilty over the fact that I’m spending what little time I have with Pepper thinking about another woman. I don’t want to think about what I will do if I do find Mystic.

Mystic and I don’t have any sort of romantic relationship. Our relationship has always been that of flirty close friends. The fact that I’m so attracted to her doesn’t mean that anything is really going to change in our friendship. Although, I would settle for having her close and we be just friends over not having her near at all. Pepper is also someone very important to me, and I don’t want to jeopardize our relationship either. I don’t want to lose either of them.

On the one hand, I have had felt a strong fascination, which has turned into an intense physical attraction for Mystic since I was a teenager. On the other hand, I’m in a committed relationship with a woman who I also love and who has been one of my closest friends for over a decade now. Mystic has told me on a few occasions that there can never be anything more than a close friendship between us. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to keep my feelings for her in check, and I’m going to end up doing something that will push her away. I realized then that for as long as I keep my feelings for Mystic in check, I could keep my romantic relationship with Pepper and my friendship with Mystic without messing up what I have with either of them. Easier said than done.


	21. “My Protocols are Being Overwritten.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Pepper have a moment.

I was landing on the Stark Tower's Penthouse top level balcony when I received Coulson’s call. “Sir, Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line,” JARVIS said.

“JARVIS, who is accompanying Agent Coulson?” I wanted to verify if the people Mystic said are going to ask for my help are from S.H.I.E.L.D. and if Seraphine is with Coulson.

“A male S.H.I.E.L.D. agent came in with Agent Coulson. He is currently in the first-floor Lobby. Sir.”

“Tell Coulson I’m not in. I’m actually out.” I said once JARVIS told me Seraphine isn’t with Coulson while I was walking towards the inside of the Penthouse as the Iron Man suit was being disassembled and pulled from my body by the robots installed on the balcony’s landing.

“Sir. I’m afraid he is insisting.”

“Close the line, JARVIS. I got a date.” If whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. wants with me at this time isn’t related to Seraphine or Mystic, then it can wait for later. Right now, I want to enjoy the rest of my night with Pepper.

“Levels are holding steady…I think.” Pepper said while she is staring at a holographic monitor being projected vertically on top of a table next to the windows closest to the tower’s Penthouse lower level balcony. The monitor is showing the tower’s energy readings.

“Of course they are, I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius?” I asked her while I’m walking towards her.

I stopped once I reached her. I’m standing close enough to her to invade her personal space, and she has her back to me and is facing the monitor still looking at the holographic energy readings. I turned off the monitor when I reached the table.

“Well, ha, I really wouldn't know now would I?” She answered me as she turned around and faced me after I turned off the monitor.

“What do you mean? All this came from you.” I made a circular motion with my right index finger and then pointed at her.

“No. All this came from that.” She said and touched my arc reactor with her right index finger.

“Give yourself some credit, please. Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself... twelve percent of the credit.” I said to her touching both her arms and mentioning a decision I made to give her a percentage of the Tower. I was thinking of using it as part of an excuse to convince to take a few days off and go on that vacation I was planning. However, now that Mystic told me about Seraphine, the vacation is going to have to wait for later.

“Twelve percent?” She said as she is walking away from the table and towards the center of the living room.

“An argument can be made for fifteen,” I said following her.

“Twelve percent? For my baby?” She said while she is kneeling and sitting on the floor in from of a coffee table at the center of the living room, which contained chilled champagne bottles and glass flutes.

“Well, I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you.”

“Oooooh.”

“My private elevator...” I’m saying to her while she is pouring champagne in one of the glass flutes.

“You mean OUR elevator?” She corrected me, filling up another glass.

“...was teeming with sweaty workmen. I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?” I said, continuing with my previous sentence as I’m reaching the table and sitting on the floor next to her.

“Not gonna be that subtle.” She said and handed me a champagne glass.

“I'll tell you what. Next building's gonna say 'Potts' on the tower.”

“On the lease.” She said and moved her glass to click it with mine.

I pulled my glass back before her glass touched mine. “...Call your mom, can you bunk over?” I said to her trying to get her to stay the night in an attempt to try to avoid staying up all night obsessing about Mystic and Seraphine.

“Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten.” JARVIS said to me.

I grabbed my cell phone from the table and picked up Coulson’s call. “Stark, we need to talk,” Coulson said over the phone.

“You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark; please leave a message.” I was saying holding the phone in front of me.

“This is urgent,” he said.

“Then leave it urgently,” I replied.

At that moment, the elevator door opened and Coulson appeared. “Security breach,” I said to JARVIS.

“That's on you,” I said gesturing to Pepper.

“Mr. Stark,” Coulson greeted me.

“Phil! Come in.” Pepper said grabbing her glass of Champaign from the table, standing, and walking towards Coulson.

“Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent.” I said, standing and following Pepper.

“Come on in; we're celebrating.” She said to Coulson.

“Which is why he can't stay,” I said to both of them as we reached Coulson.

“We need you to look this over,” Coulson said to me holding up a Starkpad for me to take.

“As soon as possible.” He continued.

“I don't like being handed things,” I told him holding my champagne glass and refusing to take the Starkpad.

“That's alright, `cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade.” Pepper said to Coulson.

She passed her glass of champagne to Coulson and took the file from him, then took her champagne glass back from me and passed me the file.

“Thank you.” Said Coulson.

“Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursdays,” I told Coulson as I’m opening the Starkpad.

“This isn't a consultation.” He said.

“Is this about The Avengers? Which I...I know nothing about.” Pepper said to Coulson while I’m walking towards the holographic monitor table.

“The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought, and I didn't even qualify,” I said.

“I didn't know that either,” Pepper said to Coulson.

“Yeah, Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others,” I said placing the Starkpad on the table and connecting it to the table.

“That I did know,” Pepper said.

“This isn't about personality profiles anymore,” Coulson replied.

“Whatever. Miss Potts, got a second?” I called Pepper.

She walked over to me while I’m transferring the files to the holographic table. “You know, I thought we were having a moment,” I said to her when she reached me.

“I was having twelve percent of a moment. This seems serious, Phil's pretty shaken.” She said to me turning her head to look in Coulson’s direction for a moment and then returning her attention to me once more while I’m opening the files.

“How did you notice? Why is he, Phil?” I asked her looking at her.

“What is all of this?” She said looking down at the images on the tablet.

“This is, uh..” I said stammering in surprise and gesturing with my hands to enlarge the files and project them in the air around us. Multiple windows with the profiles of the Avenger appeared.

“This.” I tried to continue looking around at the multiple projected videos and windows displaying information.

There are images and videos showing Captain America in action, the Hulk attacking the army at Culver University; a tall, blond, long haired dude fighting a giant robot; and other images. I’m starting to wonder if this is in anyway related to those people that Mystic said need my help, but they can’t be from S.H.I.E.L.D. because Seraphine isn’t with Coulson.

“I'm going to take the jet to D.C. tonight,” Pepper said turning her head from side to side to look at the multiple projections.

“Tomorrow,” I told her not wanting her to leave just yet.

“You've got homework. You've got a lot of homework.” Turning her attention to me again.

“Well, what if I didn't?” I asked her looking at her.

“If you didn't?”

“Yeah.”

“You mean if you finished?” I nodded my head.

“Well, um...then...” She hugged me and whispered in my left ear her plans for later.

“Square deal,” I said to her.

Then, she kissed me. “Work hard.” She said and walked towards Coulson.

“Is there any chance you are driving by the airport?” She asked him.

“I can drop you there. I need to talk to Mister Stark in private about something Director Fury needs. If you could wait about twenty minutes, I will take you to the airport.” He said to her, surprising Pepper and me.

“Ok. I will wait for you downstairs. Then.” She said and took the elevator to the first floor. Whatever Coulson wants to tell me is obviously super classified because he didn’t mind for Pepper to look at the Avengers initiative information, but he didn’t want her to know about whatever this is going to be. I have a feeling that my suspicions are right, and this is related to the problem Mystic mentioned.


	22. Best Behavior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson tells Tony about Seraphine.

“Mister Stark. There is something else that you need to know about this situation which requires the Avenger's intervention. I didn’t come alone. In fact, I have a small companion with me. The Director sent her with me because she was very adamant about wanting to meet you. Before I go into further detail, I need your word that you will not disclose any information about her to anyone and keep her existence a secret. It’s a matter of utmost importance that anything of what I’m going to say to you is not heard by anyone else.”

Now I’m sure that he is talking about Seraphine. “Ok. I won’t say anything about her to anyone.” I said to Coulson.

“Did you hear that JARVIS? You can’t say anything about Coulson’s small companion either. You and I are going to keep this a secret.”

“I understand. Sir.”

“You can tell me now. Neither I or Jarvis are going to mention anything about your little companion. So, who is your small she? And, where is she?” I said to Coulson.

I had already promised certain someone something similar, so is not like this is going to be too much of a stretch. At that moment, I’m starting to feel anxious. I have known Mystic for twenty-one years, and all this time I have never found enough proof to support that she is a breathing, living person. For the first few years, I thought that she was hallucination created by my mind as a way to cope with my constant feeling of loneliness and inadequacy. It wasn’t until after a built a device that can detect the faint energy signal she emits, that I was able to verify that she is, in fact, a person.

I created the device a few months after my parents’ death. My obsessive determination to prove she is real was the only thing that kept me from drowning in the grief I felt during that time. After I had analyzed her energy signature, I concluded that she must be either an alien or a ghost because the energy reading doesn’t match with any known energy readings on the planet. I refuse to believe that she is a ghost because I don’t believe in any of that, so that leave one other possibility.

Mystic must be an alien. The theory seems to be supported by her physical appearance and her speech pattern. Her speech is mostly normal except that sometimes she uses words that don’t belong to any known language or that are very old and outdated. Other than the energy readings, I have never been able to get any proof to support that she a living, tangible being other than a phantom presence. Seraphine is an irrefutable proof of Mystic’s physical existence. I know without a doubt that once I have this proof my desire to meet Mystic is going to become an obsessive compulsion which won’t let me rest until I find her.

“A few hours ago, an artifact of unknown origins with the potential of being an unlimited power source was stolen from a highly-secured facility where the artifact was being studied. The person who stole it is a very dangerous, enhanced individual named Loki. This artifact called the Tesseract has been discovered to be able to create a portal to outer space, and it has a high destructive potential. My small companion came through a portal created after Loki activated the Tesseract. She protected the Director from an energy blast Loki sent at him with a weapon he has in his possession. She fought against Loki, but he managed to distract her and get away with the Tesseract.”

He is definitely referring to Seraphine. “So, if this mystery person came from a portal from outer space, I’m assuming that she isn’t human.”

“She is an extraterrestrial being from unknown origins,” Coulson said confirming my statement.

“So, how did Fury get this alien girl or woman to agree to help him with the Tesseract and Loki?” I asked him, curious to know why Seraphine got involved in the whole thing with Loki and why would Mystic let her. Will he mention anything about Mystic?

“When Director Fury asked her about her intervention in the incident with Loki and the Tesseract, she said that she was awakened from a hibernate sleep when the gem’s powers were activated, and the treasure was in danger of being compromised. Since she is connected to the gem, she was teleported to Earth when the Cube’s power was activated. Since she has shown that she wants to locate Loki and the Tesseract and is willing to cooperate with us to bring it into custody, we have reasons to infer that she was referring to the Tesseract. So far, she has demonstrated a concern for the general safety of the planet and the Director is confident that she can be a very important ally to us. We want to establish a rapport with her.”

“So, the Director wants to be in good terms with her. Make a good impression and all of that. Anything you can tell me about her?” I wonder how much of what he just told about Seraphine is actually true.

“Her name is Seraphine. We believe that she can potentially play a pivotal role in capturing Loki and reacquiring the Tesseract. As of right now, she has been made a member of the Avengers team. You are the first member of the Avengers initiative that she meets, and I can’t emphasize enough how crucial it is for us that the meeting between the two of you runs smoothly. I have to warn you that she is quite unique and interesting. We thought that is better for you to see her and create your own impression of her instead of me describing her and her abilities to you. She also hasn’t had much interaction with humans, so she isn’t familiar with our race.” Coulson said, finally confirming my assumptions.

“In other words, I need to try my hardest not to screw it up. Got it. No problem.” I said to Coulson in an easy and relaxed manner. Good thing my façade fooled Coulson because it looks like some tension is living his body. On the other hand, I’m starting to become nervous feeling the pressure of the importance of me making a good impression on Seraphine. I need for her to like me and to convince her to stay here in the tower because I want to fulfill the promise I made to Mystic. Now I also need for her to like me because apparently, the world is facing a global threat and Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D need Seraphine’s help, to stop a psycho from using a dangerous object with the potential of a weapon of mass destruction, and they want for her to trust the Avengers.

There is no way Fury is getting the Avengers together unless he sees no other option. He must be extremely desperate to consider recruiting me and, if the video of the green giant that is included in that debrief package is any indication, also the Hulk into the team. By now, is common knowledge that Fury considers me a major pain in the ass to deal with and that the Hulk is a walking catastrophe. Fury will never even consider the idea if he wasn’t really, really, desperate, which means that the world is about to go to hell in a hand basket.

“So, where is she? Time for the introductions.” I said to Coulson.

“Before I call Seraphine, I have some things to add. I’m going to ask you to refrain from calling your Iron Man suit or displaying any type of behavior that she may consider threatening. She looks very peculiar, and her appearance can give quite a shock, but she isn’t going to take well to any perceived threat and will attack you if provoked.” Coulson said to me as a warning.

“Why would I call my Iron Man suit for? Is she dangerous? I thought you said she that Fury wants for us to be in good terms with each other.” I said to him.

He is being frustratingly vague. Mystic did the same thing. Her, the one eye pirate, and mostly everybody on S.H.I.E.L.D have the same annoying habit of being able to answer a question without really answering it. I would think of it as impressive if it isn’t for the fact that I find it so annoying. It takes a high level of shrewdness to maintain that level of word play with someone like me. Especially in Mystic’s case on the times when I’m trying to outsmart her and get her to tell me what I want.

“I can assure you that she means you no harm. She seems to be very eager to meet you and only wants to talk to you. For what we have gathered, she finds your work interesting, particularly JARVIS. She is quite small, but don’t let her size fool you. She can be very dangerous, so I ask you that you don’t do or say anything that could potentially offend her or anger her. In other words, please refrain from making sarcastic comments in front of her, and whatever you do don’t call her a thing. She refers to herself as a living weapon.”

“Since you are doing the being Mysterious thing, if I ask what you mean by a living weapon, are you going to give me a straight answer?” I asked Coulson.

I don’t want to keep wasting my time asking questions if he isn’t even going to give a satisfying answer. He just smiled at me.

I sighed. “I will be on my best behavior,” I told him, nervous and eager to meet Seraphine.


	23. "You are the one who Overrode JARVIS's Security Protocols."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony meets Seraphine

Nothing prepared me for the shock of meeting Seraphine. She is the most amazing and fascinating thing I have ever seen. Sorry, not a thing. She doesn't like being called a thing. She is…. she is a piece of art, the most sophisticated technology I have ever seen. She is simply unique. Did I mention that she is amazing? She is amazing! Anyways, I'm being sidetracked. Let me go back to Coulson, our meeting, and the moment I was at before.

"Ok. I'm going to call her now. I have to warn you that she makes a very dramatic entrance so don't be alarmed." Coulson said.

"Alarmed? Why would I be alarmed for?" I asked Coulson feeling my anxiety growing.

His only response was a small smile that did nothing to settle my nerves. Then, he rolled up the left sleeve of his suit and tapped twice on a plain silver bracelet on his wrist.

"Coulson, what…" I started to say but stopped mid-sentence.

The bracelet and a ring he had on the same hand started to melt, and the drops were floating in the air and accumulating into a ball in front of Coulson a few inches above his eye level. The liquid metal ball is now reshaping itself into what looks to be a silver Barbie doll. The Barbie doll is a miniature replica of Mystic but made completely of silver metal and about six inches tall. I was completely wrong when I thought that she is Mystic's daughter.

"Wooo, what? what is…? how?" I was stuttering in surprise and awe fascination. Mystic was withholding information. A warning about the fact that Seraphine is a tiny doll made of metal that's probably smaller than my hand would have been appreciated. Ok. Stark take a breath and calm the fuck down. As Coulson said, is "crucial" that this meeting runs smoothly. No pressure. I'm a cool guy. Seeing shape-shifting metal dolls that can levitate and defy all laws of physics is a completely normal thing. I'm Tony Stark. Nothing can faze me. I'm as cool as a cucumber.

Who am I fucking kidding? If Fury needed someone that would act completely cool, collected, and reassuring to Seraphine, he should have picked another member of the Avengers to send her too. It isn't going to be my fault that I'm going to mess this up. The one eye pirate should have known better. He is going to be so pissed off when Coulson returns to him and tells him how badly I'm probably going to fuck up this meeting. What I'm going to tell Mystic?

After the reshaping transformation was completed, she opened her eyes, smiled at me, and waved hi at me. I couldn't believe my eyes. She then started to make gestures with her hands, still smiling and staring at me.

"Is that sign language? I don't know sign language. JARVIS, please tell me you know sign language. I programmed you to know all languages. I think you must know sign language. What is she saying?" I asked, rambling in rapid-fire to JARVIS.

"She is saying is nice to meet you. You are a great inventor, and I'm very happy to see you in person." Well, look at that. There is a chance that I won't completely screw up this meeting after all. Maybe, I won't have to think about a good way to try to explain to Mystic why I couldn't keep my promise to her.

While JARVIS is translating, she turned around and made more hand gestures in Coulson's direction. "Go ahead. I think he would be eager to have a closer look at you." He said to her.

"JARVIS, you are supposed to be telling me what she is saying."

"She asked Agent Coulson if she can approach you, Sir."

"Yes. You are…You are… Wow. Whatever you are is amazing. I would love to take a close look at you." I said in awe, eagerly to her because you know that stammering and looking like an overeager fool who can't even say complete sentences is totally cool. Seraphine is going to be soooo impressed with me. I still need to get her to trust me. Dial down the enthusiasm Stark. You don't want to overwhelm her and make her run off. Cool guy, remember. Mystic is definitely not going to be happy when I tell her that Seraphine ran off after less than a minute of being in my presence because Seraphine was totally unimpressed with my inability to keep it cool when I first saw her.

"Hello, Seraphine. I'm glad you are happy to meet Mr. Stark. Thank you for adding sign language to my programming." JARVIS said her cool and collected as if having a levitating, shape-shifting metal doll in the living room is a completely normal occurrence. God bless his artificial soul.

Wait a minute. What did he just say? "Adding? You are the one that overrode JARVIS security protocols to let Coulson into the Penthouse. How did you hack JARVIS? And how are you able to fly? Your mass density should be too heavy to allow flying or hovering in the air, or whatever it's that you are doing, especially without wings. What are the molecular properties of the metal you are made of? Are you an AI?" I asked her in an awestruck rapid fire while she is slowly levitating towards me. So much for dialing it down, at least I'm not staggering anymore.

I realized then that she is probably trying to be careful thinking that if she moves fast, then I would probably get startled and become spook. What she doesn't know, is that I'm too fascinated and impressed by her presence that my only reaction would be to increase my eagerness.

She continued to smile at me and made more hand gestures while continuing her slow advance towards me. "Sir. She says she doesn't understand what a molecular density and property are. She says I'm a living weapon similar to an AI but different." She probably thinks that my overly enthusiastic response to her is amusing. Thank God for that.

"Right. A mass density is how heavy a substance is. Mass density measures the compactment of a material. The more density something has, the tighter the particles inside a substance are packed together and the heavier the substance is. If you can levitate and fly, it means that the metal you are made of has a really low density. It's either that or you have a telekinetic power that you are using to levitate yourself." I explained to her excited as she approached me.

"You are astonishing," I said to her once she reached me. "Can I touch you?" I continued, already lifting my hand and slowly reaching to touch her with my middle finger without waiting for an answer.

As my hand is hovering a few centimeters from her, she nods her head still smiling and lifted her tiny hand with her open palm facing me. I touched her open palm and pressed my finger against it expecting the metal to be soft and malleable and to bend under the small pressure of my finger. Instead, I touched smooth, hard metal that didn't yield under my finger.

"How did you change the molecular composition of your body? Just a moment ago, your body was liquid and malleable and now is hard and solid. That shouldn't be possible unless you went through the process of heating it and cooling it and you didn't do that." I said to her in awe already thinking about all the physics laws she is breaking and bending.

She made the hand gestures again, and I'm already regretting not taking sign language classes in high school. "Sir. She says she doesn't know. She was created to be able to take any shape, harden her body, and cut through mostly anything."

"It was worth a try," I said in a low tone to myself disappointed that at the moment I won't get answers about her body's composition.

I wish there were a better way for us to speak with each other. Then, I remembered what Mystic told me about her and how she likes computers and electronic devices. She is the one who hacked and overrode JARVIS coding to bypass the tower's security protocols and let Coulson inside the Penthouse.

"You can access computer systems. Can you use them to communicate through them too?" I asked Seraphine, and she nods her head.

"Can you access my computer system again and talk through them? I give you permission to access the tower's system as long as you don't mess again with JARVIS coding. That's going to be better than having him translate everything you say." I told her.

She gave me a wider smile. One of those that shows all teeth. She pointed towards the holographic images of the Avengers files still flowing around the room. Another holographic monitor opened up and typed writing started to appear.

"I will be good. I don't want you to get angry at me like Director Fury did when I was playing with the Hellicarriers systems. I like you. You have bright colors, you can create weapons and intelligent technology, and you are nice like Phil." She wrote.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I wrote a good impression of how Tony would react to meeting Seraphine. I wanted to show how he would try to play it cool while in reality he would be freaking out and worried that he is going to screw it up. Tony being Tony I think would also be equally excited about the prospect of being presented with a scientific enigma such as Seraphine and his inquisitive mind would take over and overrule him wanting to be careful and cool and not overwhelm Seraphine with his overly enthusiastic inquisitive response to her. Hence the reason why when he first saw Seraphine shape-shifting into a doll, he thought that he was going to completely screw up because he knew he wouldn't be able to contain himself.
> 
> Tony told Seraphine that she has his permission to access the Towers systems and she smiled wide "One of those that shows all teeth." And said she is going to be good. I don't think her definition of good when it comes to accessing the Towers system is the same definition of Tony's good, but that isn't going to be seen until after a few chapter because Seraphine and Tony are going to have a talk about S.H.I.E.L.D. and the director. Can't have her annoying the hell out of Tony before they have some bonding time over S.H.I.E.L.D.'s shady intentions. As for the science talk in the chapter, don't take anything I said there as an absolute true thing. I don't know much about science. What I said there, comes from the internet and my vague recollections of what I remember from high school.


	24. “Stark, that Request Includes you as Well.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony learns about the rest of Seraphine's abilities.

“So. You hacked S.H.I.E.L.D.’s systems, and the pirate caught you.” I said to her smiling, and she nodded again.

That’s the reason why Fury let her come here with Coulson. She got into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s database, and he doesn’t want her snooping in there. Of course, he wouldn’t want her to know all of his dirty secrets.

“I would have loved to see his face when he realized you were hacking his computers,” I said to her.

“I can show it to you. It’s really funny. Director Fury said that it isn’t funny, but I thought it was.” She wrote.

“Show it to me. I want to see it.” I eagerly said to her.

“Seraphine. You promised the Director you won’t talk about or show any information you read on the S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files and that you wouldn’t hack into our database anymore without permission from the Director.” Coulson said to her.

She turned towards Coulson and replayed in sign language to him.

I saw Coulson sigh. “Ok, but we are going to have to keep quiet about this. The Director is going to be angry again with you if he finds out you showed that to anyone.” He said.

She turned in my direction, crossed her arms over her chest, and silently stared at me.

“What?” I said to her, pretending not to know that she is waiting for me to agree to Coulson’s request.

“Stark, that request includes you as well,” Coulson said to me.

“Ok. Fine. Though, you should know that I only agree because I don’t want Seraphine to get in more trouble with Fury. I would love to rub this on the Pirate’s face, but I’m going to keep it to myself.”

She pointed again to the holographic monitors, and a video started. I started laughing, howling and grabbing my stomach when I saw the pirate’s expression when he told Seraphine that hacking is illegal and she told him that she didn’t know what hacking is. Fury’s reaction to the whole thing is hilarious, and seeing all the people running in a frenzy trying to fix the computers and not knowing what to do makes it even funnier.

“That was…. that was hilarious,” I said to her trying to contain my laughter.

“I love your style, kiddo. I have a feeling that you and I are going to get along well. I haven’t had a good laugh in a while. I have to introduce you to more music choices, though.” I said smiling.

“Coulson said you are a living weapon. What is that? Who created you? Whoever it is, is a genius. I would love to meet him or her. I’m not going to be stereotypical here and assume that it’s a man who created you, women can do amazing things too.”

“It means that I have thoughts, emotions, a personality, a will of my own like a living being instead of being an object with artificial intelligence. I was created by the great weapon’s smith Totosai and my Khalilah. Totosai is the creator of many sentient powerful weapons. He created my body and gave me my purpose, and my Khalilah is responsible for my personality, my mind, and for giving me life. She made me a living being. My Khalilah says that I’m a conscious being because she and Totosai gave me a soul and consciousness, and only conscious beings have a consciousness and a soul.” That means that she is more like a tiny person made of metal instead of an AI and she was created by Mystic and this Totosai person.

Mystic helped create Seraphine and didn’t mention anything to me about it. All this time, I have been working on the Mark suits, rambling on about them, and explaining how they work while she sat there quietly and patiently and smiled indulgently at me. If I had known that she is responsible for the creation of such advanced intelligent technology, I would have asked a lot of questions and insisted for her to be an active participant in the creation of the suits, instead of just implementing the suggestions she made from time to time. Why didn’t she said anything about all of that and let me work on the suits on my own instead?

Although, thinking about it, she is a big advocate of the concept of self-empowerment. She must have thought that this was something I needed to do for myself without outside help, which is true. I needed to create the suits on my own to feel that I was gaining back control of my life and rewriting the wrongs that my company and the weapons I created made. I will ask her about it later. She and I really need to have a chat about all the things she has been keeping from me, but at least now I understand why Mystic said that Seraphine is hers and called her Khalilah, “Family.”

I assumed that Seraphine is Mystic’s daughter because she called her “Khalilah” and said Seraphine is hers. Khalilah does mean family, but it also means beloved, companion, and friend. I kept the assumption of Seraphine being Mystic’s daughter when Mystic didn’t correct me or denied it. Though, now I know that since Mystic created Seraphine, and she has been with her since Seraphine was a “born” as a living being, this means that Mystic is raising Seraphine since Seraphine is still considered a child by human standards. Based on how Mystic talked about Seraphine, she probably does considers her a daughter.

“What is a Khalilah? Is that a name?” I asked Seraphine pretending that I didn’t know what it means.

“Khalilah. Means family. In our language, it also means friend, beloved, and companion. Khalilah is used when referring to a female and Khalil is used for a male.” She said confirming what I already knew.

“I’m glad that I was able to meet you and talk to you before we are required to go after Loki. I’m still learning about humans, their history, and behaviors. I asked Director Fury if I could have a personal meeting with some members of the Avengers so I could get acquaintance with the team. I wanted to meet you in particular because of your experience as an inventor and your expertise on the creation of weapons, machines, technology, and artificial intelligence. JARVIS is amazing. Can I see the Armor? Can you call it to you? What type of metal is it made of?”

I was really surprised out of all the Avengers she picked me to meet in person. She picked me over Captain America the national hero and Bruce Banner who is also a genius. She isn’t interested Tony Stark the billionaire, or Iron Man the hero. He is interested in Tony Stark the inventor. When was the last time someone approached me because they were genuinely interested in my work without an ulterior agenda or because they were thinking about gaining a profit? Other than Mystic and from time to time Rhodey, I don’t remember the last time that happened. Even Pepper only shows interest on the profit-making side of any of my inventions.

“The Iron Man armor is made out of a Nickel-Titanium alloy called Nitinol. So far I have been able to make wristbands that I can use to call the armor by giving a command to JARVIS, but I want it to be able to come to me by making specific hand gestures without using JARVIS. The bands don’t work after I’m away a certain distance from the armor, so I need to fix that as well. The armor isn’t anywhere near as sophisticated as you, though. I think you would be disappointed with it.” I told her feeling self-conscious about it.

Usually, I’m very proud of the armor and wouldn’t hesitate to show it off, but compared to Seraphine the Iron Man armor is a child’s toy. “Is Ok. I guess that I will see it later when we face Loki.” She said looking disappointed.

I realized that maybe she thought I don’t want to show the armor to her because I don’t trust her. What she doesn’t know is that I’m feeling very self-conscious about it. Right now, I trust her more than I trust Agent. I know for a fact that Coulson wouldn’t hesitate to shot me at any moment if the Director asked him. I don’t have to have access to any of their files to know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is an organization with a lot of dark secrets. Being reminded of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s shady motives, made me remember the promise that I made Mystic about getting Seraphine away from them.


	25. "Please Don't Be Angry. I Didn't Mean any Harm."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Seraphine have a chat about S.H.I.E.L.D. and Director Fury.

I know for sure that Seraphine can interact with technology. Based on the video that I just saw of her hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files, she can probably control technology too, which would explain how she can hack into otherwise practically unhackable systems like JARVIS. I know for a fact that JARVIS changes his own security encryptions and firewalls every hour. He also changes said encryptions and makes new ones when someone other than me is trying to get access to his system.

In the few minutes Seraphine and Coulson have been here, Seraphine re-wrote JARVIS security protocols to give Coulson access to the private elevators and the Penthouse. She gave JARVIS a language upgrade to include sign language so he could translate her trying to communicating with me, and took control of the holographic monitors to write to me using them. I'm sure that she has control of JARVIS since Coulson entered the Lobby, which would explain why JARVIS didn't say anything to me about her and didn't warn me about his security protocols being overwritten until only a few moments before the door of the elevator opened to reveal Coulson inside.

JARVIS didn't realize anything was wrong until Coulson was entering the elevator without any restrictions in a clear violation of his security protocol. JARVIS probably still doesn't know that he is being controlled. No wonder the pirate doesn't want Seraphine anywhere near his S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base. That is a very impressive ability, and if it weren't for the fact that Mystic trust her and she is worried that S.H.I.E.L.D. will use her for their own purpose, I would be alarmingly concerned right now. Mystic trusts Seraphine, and more importantly, she loves her. That means that I trust Seraphine too. I know that Seraphine isn't trying to be malicious or doing anything that could harm me, JARVIS, or Stark industry in any way.

Seraphine must have sensed I just realized that she has been controlling Jarvis because she pointed to a Starkpad that is on the holographic table. When I picked it up, she had written, "please don't be angry. I didn't mean any harm."

"I'm not angry with you. Why didn't you tell me about it from the beginning? Why did you asked for access to my systems if you already have access to them? You are controlling my AI," I wrote on the pad aware of the fact that she is probably trying to hide this conversation from Coulson.

"I knew you would realize that I'm inside your system, and I can control JARVIS if I showed you the video. I was scared you wouldn't trust me if I told you about my ability to control technology. Other than my Khalilahs, you are the only person that hasn't treated me like a thing, a tool, or a weapon, something to be used. I didn't want to upset you. I haven't accessed any files, and won't give any information that you show me to anyone." I sighed.

"I trust your word that you won't share any information you see in any of my files with anyone other than me or JARVIS. Next time, tell me about something like this. I promise that I won't get angry if you tell me about it. I understand how it feels for people to try to use you to their own advantage, and I won't do that to you. If I ever want something from you, I will ask you first. I'm going to try my hardest to earn, keep, and not betray your trust, but that means that you have to do the same with me. You aren't the only one who has problems with others treating you different because of what you are. I have completely forgotten what it is for someone to be genuinely interested and want to get to know Tony Stark the person. You are one of the very few people that have done that, and I can count them with one hand. I think we have a lot in common." I wrote back to her.

Seraphine stared at me for a moment as if contemplating saying something and then wrote. "I have something else to show you, but I think that you will be scared of me and won't like me anymore once you see it. I would like to interact with JARVIS a little more. Can I stay with you tonight? I can return to S.H.I.E.L.D. in the morning. I don't think Director Fury wants me near his computer system more than necessary."

"That's perfect. I was going to ask you to stay so I could ask you some more questions about you and about the files Coulson brought me. I don't think that anything you show me is going to change my mind about you so don't worry about it." I said to her, and she smiled.

"I agreed to help the Avengers, take Loki into custody, and locate the Tesseract, but after that, I don't trust the Director not try to capture me or try to control me in some way. I saw the way he looked at me. He thinks of me as a weapon. They think I'm an AI and may look for a way to try to reprogram me to follow the Director's orders. However, my decisions are my own. The only one I take orders from is my Khalilah, and even then, I can choose to disregard her orders if I find a good reason not to agree with them. My Khalilah doesn't like to order me to do things. She would ask me if I want to do something unless it's really important, or she is worried about something that she thinks affects my well-being. I can't be programmed or be made to do anything I don't want to do."

So, she already thinks that the Director doesn't have the best intentions towards her. She is right about that. After the whole thing with this Loki guy is over, S.H.I.E.L.D. is most probably going to turn its attention to her and try to get her into their custody by any means necessary wherever she is willing or not. I have to get her away from them.

"Don't worry. I will get Coulson to let you stay. You don't have to go back to them if you don't want. You can stay here in the tower as long as you like." I wrote.

No way I will let the Pirate get his hands on her. Once he realizes that he can't control her and she starts to show signs of not wanting to follow his orders, he is going to have her captured and try to kill her and dissect her. They are going to want to study her to try to reverse engineer her so that they can attempt to make more of her. Mystic only told me that she is worried S.H.I.E.L.D. would try to get Seraphine to do unethical stuff. She told me Seraphine isn't in danger from them. How can Mystic not be worried about S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to control or harm Seraphine? Mystic must know about the danger that Seraphine is in if she stays with S.H.I.E.L.D. So, why isn't she worried about it? Unless "other than the ability to interact with technology and control it, what other abilities do you have?"

"You will be scared of me once you know what else I can do." She said again to me.

Coulson told me she is dangerous. I know that there must be a good reason why Mystic isn't worried about Seraphine being in danger from S.H.I.E.L.D. Mystic is confident that Seraphine can take care of herself, which in turn means that Seraphine is very dangerous. Dangerous enough that a whole secret intelligence organization full of highly trained dangerous people and all sorts of very advanced weapons and technology isn't a threat to her. Whatever Seraphine's powers are, they are extremely dangerous, which is confirmed by her saying that I will be scared of her once I find out about what she can do. She is scared I will reject her because that's probably the reaction she normally gets.

"I won't." I wrote to her after a few seconds.

She pointed to the monitor she was previously using and showed me a man dressed in a green and gold leather outfit with a wickedly dangerous-looking stuff with a sharp curved blade and a blue gem embedded on the blade. The man was throwing blue energy blasts and killing Agents while dodging and reflecting bullets like they were annoying flies. The video then stopped and started again to show a zoomed in the image of the same man, but this time he was moving around and trying to hit with the stuff an object that was cutting him repeatedly so fast that the only thing visible of the object was a blurry streak and the cuts being made.

"Ooh wow. I guess you weren't kidding when you said you were created to be able to cut through almost anything. You forgot to mention that you are unbelievably fast. Those are really impressive moves you got there, kiddo." I said to her smiling and impressed.

If she is expecting me to recoil in terror from her now, then she is going to be very disappointed. The tiny doll can pack a lot of damage. No wonder the Pirate is so interested in her. Hell, a few years back I would have been interested in the same thing the Pirate wants with her too. Thank god, I'm not like that anymore. Now, I can't even stomach the idea of Seraphine being used in any way like that. Before Afghanistan, I really was a spoiled son of a bitch. How could Mystic even stand me for so many years? Seraphine is a child. No matter how dangerous or powerful she may be, she is a kid, and she is a good kid. She only wants to help and do good things. I won't let S.H.I.E.L.D. or anyone else take advantage of her or hurt her. Now I understand why Mystic asked me to keep her safe even though she knows Seraphine is more than capable of protecting herself.

I smiled widely at her and said. "Now I really need to meet these creators of yours, if they can make someone as amazing as you, then I want to learn some pointers from them."

She smiled at me genuinely and happy and wrote: "I'm sure my Khalila and Master Totosai will like you."

"You have to introduce us sometime in the future," I replied back to her not missing a beat.

Then, I turned to Coulson and said to him, "so, Agent now that you are sure that Seraphine and I are not going to kill each other or cause another global disaster worse than the one S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to prevent right now, can she stay here tonight? I promise that I will be on my best behavior and not annoy her, too much that is. I will be busy studying the notes and the files you gave me to do that anyway."

"Seraphine, would you like to stay with Stark? you can go back now with me if that is what you want." He said to her. She nodded her head twice.

"The Director will be Ok with that, but he asked me that if she decides to stay here tonight that she needs to return to the Hellicarrier with you tomorrow if you accept to help us capture Loki. If you don't accept he said for you to contact me in the morning so I can pick her up and return with her to the Hellicarrier. You need to contact me no later than 7:00 AM if that is the case. The Director also wants for Seraphine's existence to be kept a secret and for you not to mention anything about her to anyone including the others Avengers until we had confirmation of the location of the Tesseract. Loki knows about Seraphine, but he will believe that she is back to being inactive and hibernating if he doesn't see her or hear the others mention anything about her if we encounter him before we can locate the Tesseract." He said to me.


	26. "You Want to Give me a Voice."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony makes something for Seraphine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have read this far into the story, it must mean that you like it so far. I would love to hear what you think about it. It would make my day to hear your opinion, so please leave a review.

"So, you want for Seraphine to be kept a secret even from the others Avengers. I see the tactical advantage of that. Plus, we can't be sure how the others will react to her, so I'm going to agree with you about that. We have a deal." I said.

"The Director also would like to ask if you can learn more about Seraphine. We don't know much about her. We know that she has an affinity for technology and computers. She can hack into computer systems, control technology, and read information on the computers at an incredibly fast pace. Our observations have us believe that she may be an extremely advanced type of AI. We also have very strong reasons to support that she is quite unique, and might actually be the only one of her kind. We are hoping that with your expertise in AI technology maybe you could tell us more about her." He said, and Seraphine turned around to look at me then and frown. He was confirming her suspicions.

"I can't promise much since tonight I will probably be spending the rest of the night studying and reading all the notes you gave me, so I probably won't be able to tell you anything new tomorrow," I said to him hoping that Seraphine understood the hidden message I was trying to tell her.

Even if I find out anything about her that S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't know, I won't be telling them anything that could put her in danger or could be used against her. She seemed to understand the message because she smiled at me.

"I expected as much. Well then, I will take my leave." He said, turned around, and went into the elevator.

"I will see you tomorrow." He said, and I wasn't sure if he was talking to Seraphine or me, maybe both of us.

"See ya," I said back before the elevator doors closed.

"You can interact with JARVIS and check out the Iron Man suits schematics as long as you don't change JARVIS coding and promise me not to tell or show anyone about anything that you see or read on my private servers. You can connect yourself to the tower systems and play a little if you want as well. Feel free to give me tips about flaws in the armor and how I can improve it. Would you mind if I ask JARVIS to scan you and weight you? I would love to know more about the composition of the metal you are made of if you are Ok with that."

"I don't mind," she wrote.

"Perfect. You don't have to worry about me giving information about you to S.H.I.E.L.D. Anything I learn today stays here with JARVIS and me." I said to her, and she smirked.

"JARVIS I want a scan of her. I want to know measurements, molecular mass, weight, molecular components, everything you can analyze."

"Ok. Sir."

"Ok. I'm going to let the two of you play for a few minutes while I review this." I said to her and pointed to the holographic screens with the files Coulson brought.

I would love to be able to hear her talking, so I decided that I'm going to adapt the FRIDAY program to do that so she can use it to talk through it. It will only take a few minutes to reprogram it. I just need to connect FRIDAY to the computer frame and change her coding parameters so that she only vocalizes what Seraphine writes on the computer. After that, I only need to connect a tiny speaker to FRIDAY and give it to Seraphine to wear. While JARVIS is scanning, and measuring Seraphine, I searched my drawers for the FRIDAY program, plugged it into one of the computers and changed the coding to the parameters I wanted. A few minutes later, Seraphine levitated to the table where I'm working on finishing the speaker.

She pointed to computers monitors near me. "You want to give me a voice." She wrote.

"Nothing escapes your notice, does it?" I said to her unsurprised by the fact that she figured out what I'm working on. Based on what I have observed so far, the kid is like a super computer. If she were to be human, she would be a very sharp genius. No wonder Mystic is so sure that Seraphine and I would get along well. She made a negative gesture with her head.

"That's what I thought. I was going to wait until I finished it to show it to you and see if you wanted to try it."

"I want to try it." She wrote back immediately.

"Ok. I'm almost finished. I just need to figure out how to power it, and how you want to wear it."

"If it's connected to me, it won't need a power source. Can I try it now as it is?"

"Sure," I said to her.

The speaker is the size of a small bottom, but it's still bare because I haven't gotten to work on the aesthetic presentation of the cover yet. She reached for it and a drop of the metal from her body covered the tiny speaker and created a cover for it by making a fine fabric like mesh on top of the speaker. She pressed the speaker into her throat until it was completely absorbed into her skin and blended seamlessly with it.

"I need to test it." I heard her saying, and I smiled when I heard it.

"It works," I told her happily.

She reached towards me, wrapped her little arms around her neck, and rested her head on my right shoulder. "Thank you." She said to me.

I petted her hair with my left index finger and said. "Not a problem." The kiddo may be an extremely dangerous weapon and highly intelligent, but she really is a kid, and she is really easy to please.

"I would love to talk to you for as long as I could get away with, but I really do have to study those notes. You can interact with JARVIS and play in the tower as much as you want while I'm busy with the debrief package. I'm sure JARVIS can help you find you a lot of entertainment in the meanwhile." I said sighing.

"Ok." She said.

"Did you heard that JARVIS?"

"Yes, Sir. I will be happy to help keep Seraphine entertained. Is there anything, in particular, you would like me to show her, Sir?"

"You can show her the Iron Man schematics. I also said that I would help her expand her music taste so you can do that as well."

"What music genres would you like me to show her, Sir?"

"Anything and everything you think she may like. She can choose whatever she wants. Give her a selection that starts from the 80's and up to the present, and show her the lab. She can look at the projects I have in the lab if she wants."

"You can go to the lab to see the projects and play with the speakers there if that's ok with you. I trust you not to set anything on fire or make anything explode while you are there. JARVIS can show you around the tower. As long as you don't leave the building, you can go anywhere in the tower you want, just don't let anyone see you. There may be some Stark employees still working after hours on the lower floors, plus the security guards do patrols throughout the whole building except for the two penthouse floors and my private lab." I said to her.

"Ok. That's fine. I know you need to study the files. I would like to take a look at the Iron Man schematic and see the labs." She said.

"JARVIS you heard that?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Have fun kiddo," I said to her, and she frowns. "Can I have access to the internet?"

"Sure. What's wrong? I said something, didn't I? This always happens, although I haven't made any sarcastic comments. I have been on my best behavior. Haven't I JARVIS?"

"You have been very nice, Sir." The AI replied dutifully.

"Best behavior? I don't understand." She said.

"I guess you wouldn't. What I mean is that usually when people first meet me, they think I'm cool up until they start a conversation with me, and then they change their mind very fast about it. It usually takes one or two minutes for people to change their opinion of me to think that I'm an egotistical, sarcastic asshole or something along those lines. I should have known that you still thinking I'm cool after our first conversation is too good to be true." I sighed. "Is ok. I guess. As I said before, it happens all the time. At least you are nice about it." I said to her, in resignation trying to figure out what I said wrong and not coming up with anything.

"You think that I don't like you." She said looking disappointed. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked.

"What? No. You are entitled to have your own opinions."

"Then, I don't understand. You still like me after you saw what I can do."

"Of course, I think you are amazing," I said.

"I have no reason to dislike you. You treat me nice and like a person. You think that I'm interesting, and care about my opinions." She said.

"Then, I'm confused. If you are not unhappy with me like I assumed, then why were you frowning earlier after you said that you would like to look at the Iron Man suit? You seem content up until that moment. I thought you would like to look at the tower, but you can stay here in the room with me if you want."

"Ah. I see. I do want to see the rest of the tower and the projects in the lab. You have called me kiddo several times, and I didn't understand what it means. I wasn't unhappy with you. I was just confused as to why you keep calling me kiddo, but now I looked it up on the internet and know what it means, so I'm no longer confused."

"Ohh. So, we are good. That was just a misunderstanding. I have to remind myself that you are not human, and you don't understand a lot of the expressions we use. Next time something like that happens, feel free to point it out before I make a big deal out of something that isn't." I said relief that so far I have managed not to screw up my meeting with her.

She smiled. "Ok. I will see you later." She said and turned around levitating towards the entrance.

"I'm going to let JARVIS know when I finish reading the file," I said to her.

She turned around to face me and said "I will come back then" and turned back around again to continue to exit the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For these chapters during Seraphine's and Tony's interactions, I wanted to write the chapters in a way that reflects and emphasizes on Seraphine being the equivalent of a 9 years old. I wanted the chapters to reflect on how no matter how powerful or smart Seraphine is, she is a child and that being a child might play a role in her decisions. Like for example when she asked Fury about why he was using the Tesseract to power weapons and the director told her that for as long as remains the director of Shield those weapons would never be used unless completely necessary to defend the planet from an extraterrestrial threat she agreed right away to help him and didn't question him about it further. She, being a child, trusts Fury's word in the matter and didn't think that while the director may have the right intentions, the other people in charge of Shield may use the weapons regardless of Fury's intentions. She didn't think to question the matter further the way that an adult would especially after finding out that the "organization" has bad people in it. Her reasoning was that Fury is an adult, he is giving her his word, he is being truthful about his intentions for the weapons, so is OK to trust his word in the matter, even when she knows that Fury's intention towards her isn't completely altruistic, and she knows that he wants to use her as a weapon. She still has this innocence to her that reflects her age and won't be wary of some situations like an adult will in her case. I also wanted to portray how is it that even though Tony puts on this show about him being this self-assured, very confident individual all the time, he is also riddled with a lot of insecurities.
> 
> There is that juxtaposition between how powerful, dangerous, and smart she is vs. how inexperienced, innocent, and emotionally vulnerable she is. Hence why Mystic and Tony who know that she is a kid are so protective of her. They know that yes she is very strong and powerful but at the same time, she is also very vulnerable and emotionally fragile. I'm a fan of writing about juxtapositions, contradiction, and complex morally ambiguous themes. I'm one of those people who think that not everyone is either completely dark or completely light. There is a certain amount of darkness in everyone no matter how good that person is and there is a certain amount of light or good in even the darkest of characters. There is going to be a lot of that in this story, which is why I love Tony's character so much. He is selfish but at the same time, he has a very self-sacrificing streak. So far, I think I have portrayed some of that in Fury too. He is a good person. He tries to do the right thing, but at the same time, he isn't afraid to go to great lengths and do terrible things to do what he thinks is the right thing.
> 
> Please leave a review to let me know what you think about the story so far.


	27. "As Much as I Enjoy our Word Games, I don't Have Time to Play Today.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mystic visits Tony again.

After Seraphine had left the room, I told JARVIS to engage audio privacy in the room I'm in, keep an eye on Seraphine, keep her from getting into trouble, and to notify me if anything happens. I started to look at the files Coulson brought me, and my attention was caught by the glowing blue cube which was part of the debrief. When I was reading the report, and looking at the Tesseract's, which is what the blue Cube is called, energy readings, I realized that Mystic's energy signature is very similar to it. According to the report, the Tesseract is an alien artifact found by Hydra during World War II. Hydra used the Cube as an energy source for advanced laser beam weapons which had the power to disintegrate everything it touched at a molecular level. The Tesseract was recovered from the ocean by my old man while he was looking for the spangled man with a plan. Now, the Cube has been stolen from a highly secured facility by the Asgardian Prince Loki who wants to use it to fulfill his super villain dream of conquering the world. No wonder the pirate director is getting the Avengers assembled.

I have been reading about the Tesseract and Dr. Selvig's research for about an hour when I heard the beep of the signal that lets me know of Mystic's presence. I programmed all Stark buildings and my personal properties to run the device I created to detect the faint energy signal she emits. I turned around just in time to see the white shimmering miniature lights that are always present during the first few seconds when Mystic appears out of thin air.

"Thank you for getting Seraphine away from S.H.I.E.L.D." She said.

"Well, I only managed to get her away from them for tonight. I would have tried to find a way to keep her here for longer than that, but there is a crazy alien with a powerful object who wants to enslave humanity, and she agreed to help S.H.I.E.L.D. capture him and to help find this object. We need all the help we can get. You forgot to mention that she is such a badass. I would love to know how you created her and what you did to made her feel and think like a person. She is a work of art. Her technopathic powers, speed, and her body's transmutation ability are quite impressive. She is also sharp and very intelligent. When the whole business with the lunatic alien is over, I'm going to finagle the one eye Pirate Director into giving me custody of her. You also forgot to mention that she is a tiny metal doll smaller than my hand. I would have appreciated a little warning in advance. I would have had preferred not to have been caught staring at her in surprise babbling and stuttering like an idiot when I meet her. Thankfully, she seemed to find my reaction entertaining." I said to her.

"I knew you were going to find Seraphine very fascinating. Your surprised reaction had to be genuine, or Seraphine and Agent Coulson would have suspected something. I'm happy to know that the two of you get along well. I know she is going to be in good hands with you. Though, I'm surprised that she isn't here in the room with you now. I would have thought that you would be asking her all kinds of questions about her powers, how they work, and how she was created."

"I was surprised alright. I would love to be spending my time learning all that I can about her right now. Since the world is about to go to hell soon, I decided to concentrate on studying the files Coulson gave me, instead. If I give into my curiosity about Seraphine, then I will get derailed and not pay attention to said files. I figured that the situation with the crazy alien who wants to enslave humanity should take priority. I sent Seraphine to the lab, so she can look at the projects there and be entertained. If she is not here, then I won't get tempted into ignoring the files."

"You left her alone unsupervised in your lab." She said sounding worried.

"Of course not, she is being supervised by JARVIS, who is very responsible. Plus, she told me that she wouldn't cause trouble. Why are you looking at me like that?" She is looking at me with that expression she uses whenever I do something impulsive and stupid that she knows is about to backfire in my face. A barely there curl lip that she does when she isn't sure if she should be annoyed and displeased or worried.

"You are aware of the fact that Seraphine is a nine-year-old with technopathic abilities and that JARVIS is an AI, right. Right now, she is like a hyperactive kid left alone in a candy store." She said looking at me frowning.

"I don't think it's going to be bad. I told her not to mess again with JARVIS coding, and he would…" I didn't get to finish that sentence because at that moment an alarm started to sound. "What the hell is that?" I asked to no one in particular.

"That should be Seraphine not "causing trouble" with JARVIS "supervising" her." She said making quotes with her fingers and smirking now. Looks like she decided that being annoyed is a waste of her time, and she should be amused instead.

"JARVIS. What is that alarm?"

"I'm sorry, Sir. Seraphine wanted to spend some time looking at the projects in the labs on the 53rd floor, and the security personnel were making their rounds on the floors below. She isn't letting the elevators reach the floor." JARVIS answered.

"So, the elevator is bypassing the floor. Why is the alarm ringing?"

"The alarm was activated when the elevator stopped between floors with one of the security guards inside it. Sir." JARVIS said as if trapping the security personnel inside the elevator so Seraphine can play in the labs is an absolutely normal thing to do.

"Why did you… JARVIS put me on a speaker to Seraphine."

"Ok. Sir."

"Seraphine. I know you can hear me. Start the elevators back up, and let the security guards do their jobs." I said exasperatedly.

Mystic was looking at me and silently smirking in amusement. "I want to look at the labs, and you said not to let anybody see me." She said petulantly as if trapping people in a box suspended in the air by metal cables so she can look at the labs to her heart's content make total sense. I imagined that she is frowning and pouting unhappily for being denied playing in the lower labs now.

I sighed. "You can spend as much time in my private labs as you want. The security personnel needs to do their job. You can visit the lower level labs later when they are not around. There is plenty of things you can look at in my private labs." I said to her getting annoyed. I have a feeling that the rest of the night is going to be like this.

"JARVIS, you are supposed to supervise Seraphine. That means keeping an eye on her and keeping her from doing things like that." The kid is definitely influencing my AI. This is going to be a long night.

"I will be more careful from now on, Sir," JARVIS replied.

"I expect you to be, or I'm going to have to reprogram you later."

"Seraphine, stop playing with JARVIS programming. I told you not to do that." It really isn't JARVIS fault that Seraphine is inside his system and changing his programming.

"I'm not changing JARVIS' programming. I only stopped the elevators."

"Well, you are not allowed to take control over the Tower's elevators anymore."

"Fine." She said in a displeased, annoyed tone that lets me know that she isn't happy I denied her visiting the lower level labs. The alarm stopped ringing.

"The elevators are functioning normally again, Sir," JARVIS confirmed.

"Ok. Good."

"JARVIS audio privacy."

"Ok. Sir."

Mystic was looking at me with a little amusing smile. "Yeah. Yeah. You told me so. I should have known better. You don't have to look so amused about it, you know. How angry is she going to be now? Should I expect her to start throwing a tantrum and begin breaking stuff? I asked Mystic warily. The last thing I need right is to try to pacify an angry Seraphine. I have seen the kid's powers. I don't need Coulson's warning about avoiding making her angry. I know how much of a catastrophe that would be."

"Oh. I think that was entertaining. Don't worry about her being annoyed with you right now. She is going to forget all about being in a bad mood when she sees your private lab. She will get distracted as soon as she starts to look through the projects in the lab." Mystic said to me, and I was relieved to hear that at least that problem is going to be easily averted. After a brief pause, she added, "I should warn you though that this isn't going to be the last time you are going to be interrupted tonight because Seraphine did something."

"Yeah. I know, but I think the lab is going to keep her distracted for a little while at least. It only has computers, some components of the sustainable energy project, and the Mark suits. So, there should be nothing dangerous there for her to play with." I replied to her thinking that there is no much in my private lab that Seraphine could use to cause trouble. The only thing dangerous there are the Mark suits, and they are looked away. JARVIS would keep her away from them or notify me if she tries to have access to the suits. The most damage she can do is to alter some of the files on my private server, and JARVIS makes separate copies of those. None of the data is going to be lost if she opens and alters some of my private files.

"Well, at least she isn't going to be bothering your employees anymore," Mystic said as if it was obvious that Seraphine is going to keep causing trouble even in my private lab. She took a look at the monitors and said, "I'm glad that she agreed to help capture Loki and locate the Tesseract. I knew that the Cube was going to attract trouble if it was discovered again. Your father should have left it where he found it. It was much safer there." She said to me turning back the attention to the current situation with Loki.

"How do you know about the Tesseract? Is it from the same place you come from? Where do you come from anyway? You have never told me about your planet and always ignore the question every time I ask. In here, it says that the Cube can create intergalactic portals. How does it do that? The report says that the Cube emits Gamma radiation, but I have never known Gamma particles to behave this way. Not that I'm an expert in Gamma radiation, but the readings say that the Tesseract's main source of power is a type of plasma energy that is generated by an unidentifiable element. The molecular mass doesn't make sense. All that plasma energy should be impossible to be contained in such a way, especially considering the size of the Tesseract. How is it contained anyways? This thing breaks all laws of physics. The readings about the unidentified element, are very similar to the ones that I have collected about you. It looks like the same type of energy. The Tesseract has to be from your planet. That's the reason why you know about it, isn't it?" I said in my usual rapid-fire way of speaking, asking questions without waiting for the answers.

This is the first time I encounter something that emits the same type of energy signature as her. I need to know about it. About her. From where she comes from.

While I'm asking questions and talking away without waiting for an answer, she is smiling at me waiting patiently for me to finish speaking. "You are thinking too much about how the Tesseract works. The answers you seek cannot be explained by science." She said.

She has the frustrating ability to answer questions without really answering them. Most of the time, she leaves me with more questions and little to no answers. However, today I'm determined to get some answers. As much as I like the challenge of piecing together and figuring out facts about her based on her vague answers while at the same time trying to avoid being outsmarted by her with her clever retorts, I can't play games today. There is a crazy alien somewhere out there with an object that could cause untold destruction. I don't have the time to try to figure out her riddle like answers.

"As much as I enjoy our word games, I don't have time to play today. There is a psychopathic alien running loose with the Tesseract somewhere who is trying to take over the planet. Some actual, helpful information would be greatly appreciated right now." I said to her in a tired, serious tone.

"I'm not trying to be frustrating. I'm actually trying to help you understand better what you want. As I said before, the Tesseract isn't something that can be explained by science. Trying to understand how it works will only leave you frustrated and with more questions. You need to approach the problem from another direction. What you need to understand is not the how, but the why." Mystic gave me another indirect answer, but now I know that I have been focusing too much on trying to rationalize how the Tesseract works, instead of analyzing it from a different angle.

She is right about the fact that I'm getting frustrated with the Cube. The thing doesn't work in any way that is logical. "If the question that needs to be answered is the why. Then I guess you mean that I need to know the reason why it creates portals and acts as an unlimited energy source, but I don't have any of that information available. The report doesn't even say what type of plasma energy it's made of." I answer already frustrated.

"I can tell you about its origin, but you have to keep an open mind and not try to rationalize it." She answered me.

I'm starting to become skeptical about it. "Everything can be explained with science," I told her.

She smiled then and said, "the soul understands what the mind can't comprehend."

"If this is about understanding some kind of deep spiritual wisdom, then I will keep trying to analyze my frustrating and impossible scientific enigma until I find a logical solution. I will get a satisfying answer eventually, and by the way, you are still frustratingly vague as usual, that is not helpful, that is the contrary of helpful in case you didn't realize it." I answered her frustrated.

I turned around and started walking towards the bar area. This is going to be a long night, and I need a drink.

"I was going to tell you about the Tesseract's origin. You were right when you said I have a similar energy signature. That's because the Cube's origin is connected to the reason for my supernatural appearance. I like to play word games and give you cryptic answers, but everything I have ever said to you is the truth. I may try to avoid answering your questions as much as I can, but what little I do say to you is the truth. You can trust me to always speak the truth to you." After she had mentioned the part about the energy signature, I stopped in my tracks, turned around, and sat on the sofa. I completely forgot about the drink I wanted to get. She has my complete attention now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next few chapters, Seraphine is going to continue to cause trouble in the Tower and some background information about "Mystic" is going to be revealed. Things are finally going to start to make more sense from now on.


	28. "Show me how Deep the Rabbit Hole Goes, Morpheus."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony asks Mystic for some explanations.

There is no way I will be able to concentrate on the report about a loony alien who wants to conquer the world after hearing that Mystic is going to tell me about her background. This is something I have been trying to find out about for years. At this point, I don't care if she is going to tell me about a lot of spiritual nonsense or not. I need to hear about this.

When she told me about always telling me the truth, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to will away the knot on my throat. I have had people lie to me and betray me all my life. I can count on one hand the number of people that are truthful to me, and I would still have some fingers left. I had to learn the hard way that people always want something from me, and I can't trust them. Now Mystic is telling me that she has never lied to me, and I wholehearted believe it. I know for a fact that she always tells me the truth no matter how hard it may be for me to hear it, or how much I may not like it. If I ask her something she doesn't want to answer, she lets me know in that witty way of hers.

I wonder if she knows how much it means to me that she doesn't lie to me. I use to wonder why she doesn't give me a direct answer to a lot of personal questions. She mostly avoids answering anything that has to do with her personal life. The occasions when she tells me about herself are rare and for this same reason precious to me. By now, I know as much about her preferences, as I know about my own. In fact, I know more little details about her than I know about Pepper. I know she loves Sakura blossoms because they remind her of her childhood, and her favorite color is red because it reminds her of a someone dear she lost a long time ago. She loved him and misses him every day. He was loyal, stubborn, strong, very protective, courageous, cursed like a sailor, and was dauntless in a fight. He died in front of her. He had always protected her. She said.

When I asked her how he died, and why was he was always protecting her, she told me that it was because that was who he was.  _"I have the worst luck in the universe when it comes to getting into trouble. Most people tend to want something from me, and a lot of them don't care about the way they go about trying to get it as long as they can get what they want. Greed is the most terrible thing. The fact that in the end they always fail doesn't mean they stop trying. I would tell you the reason why but I want to protect you from that kind of people. If it were to become known of my friendship with you, it would put you in danger. Knowing too much about me could be dangerous to you, and you are precious to me."_  It felt like I was getting punched in the stomach when I realized that it means people try to hurt her frequently. I also felt a tug on my chest when she said that I'm precious to her.

I grew up without much affection. My parents did not use to show me any type of affection, and most of my childhood I felt like I was ignored by them. For me, to hear that kind of words so openly is something invaluable, and she says then like it's the easiest thing.  _I gave her a deflective response, "You say that so I don't ask you more personal questions," I told her managing to avoid telling her a sarcastic or witty remark which would be my normal go to response when I'm feeling vulnerable and exposed._

_She smiled at me like she always does and said, "One day in the future when your destiny comes, and I'm no longer able to keep my distance, our roles will reverse, and I'm going to be the one trying to hide my feelings. Not because I don't want you to know them, but because I will still want to shield you. When that moment comes, I promise you that you will know any personal information you want to know about me."_

_Her answer felt like an omen. "Please. Don't tell me that you can see the future because I don't believe in that kind of thing." She didn't answer. Just looked at me with an all-knowing gaze and a smirk._

" _Ok. Fine. Keep your secrets if you want." I continued after a moment._

Since that day, I had never insisted that she tells me about details of her personal life when I ask her a question, and she avoids answering it.

"The answers you seek will have you questioning everything you know about me. It goes beyond the mind's comprehension. You are not going to like to hear the truth. I told you that not everything can be explained by science. If you want to learn about the Tesseract and my origins, you need to have an open mind. This is something that is beyond rational thought. This is one of the reasons why I have avoided telling you about my origin. I knew you would try to rationalize it and then discard it once you found no concrete proof. The reason why I'm going to tell you about it now is that you have the proof in front of you right now. That is your proof." She said pointing at the screen with the Tesseract.

"Once you know the true power of the Tesseract and what it can do you will have no way of to deny what I'm going to tell you." She continued saying.

I sighed. "At this point, I'm willing to consider all options. I just want the truth. However unbelievable the truth may be, it's better than this constant state of uncertainty. Up until tonight, I wasn't even sure that you are a flesh and blood, tangible person. The only thing that I was sure of is that you are not a hallucination. I wasn't sure about anything else except for that. I still don't know exactly what you are. Anything is better than that." I told her.

"Ok, but I have to tell that this is going to change your perspective on everything you think you know about yourself and about me. This truth will change your reality. Once you know the whole truth, is going to feel like you are Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole." She said as a foreshadowing.

"I think I'm going to need that drink," I said and got up from the couch to get that drink I was planning on having when she told she is going to tell me about her origins.

"Get the whole bottle, and sit down."

"That kind of crazy, huh," I said.

She smiled and said, "All I'm offering is the truth." And now I understood the references to Alice and the rabbit hole.

I picked a bottle of Bourbon and a glass with ice. Then, I sat again on the couch, opened the bottle, filled about a third of the glass, got comfortable on the couch, and made another reference to the same movie. "Show me how deep the rabbit hole goes, Morpheus." Mentally preparing myself for my world to turn upside down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we are starting to get clues about what is going on with some of Inuyasha's characters. Yeah. The character mentioned in this chapter is dead. As you may already have guessed, this chapter's title and the some of the lines at the end of the conversation between Mystic and Tony are direct references to the Matrix movie.
> 
> The words are used in the movie scene where Morpheus offers to tell the truth about the Matrix to Neo by offering him a choice between the blue and the red pills. They are also indirect references to the Inuyasha's series and one character in particular. In here, Mystic is using the references as a form of warning to Tony that learning the truth about the Tesseract and her is going to change his life and the perception of his reality as he currently knows it in an irreversible way.
> 
> I know that the Girl has kind of disappeared from the story, but I decided to add a part with explanations and to introduce some characters before she comes back. After this chapter, there are still going to be 8 more chapters with the Girl absent. She is going to awaken very shortly after she appears into the story. After the explanations part with Tony is over, the events in the story are going to pick up the pace very fast. I apologize to everyone that is expecting the Girl to make an appearance again soon.
> 
> By the way, in here Mystic told Tony that she never lies to Tony. She says this because she knows that while she is keeping a lot of things about her identity from him, what little she tells him about herself is always the truth. Omitting information is still considered a form of lying. He knows that she does have very good reasons for not telling him about herself. However, we are going to see Tony's reaction later on when he realizes how much she has omitted to tell him especially about her connection to him, the true nature of it, and the reason why the connection exists in the first place. He isn't going to find out about their connection until later on in the story when the two of them meet in person. They are going to have a conversation about it when they both have time to discuss it in private. Tony isn't going to be pleased about it, and he isn't going to waste time voicing how aggravated he is that she kept all of that from him. Especially, considering that now we know how much he values people being honest with him and why it is so important to him.


	29. "Who was the big Idiot who Decided that Earth is the Perfect Place to Hide an Infinity Stone?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mystic tells Tony about the Tesseract.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read the other author's note at the bottom of this chapter before reading this chapter.

"The Tesseract's origin is complex and ancient. Even I who am considered old by most civilizations, I'm practically a newborn infant compared to the Cube. The Cube is called the Tesseract by many civilizations, this world included, but it was originally called the Space Gem, which is the name it is mostly known as. It's a powerful entity in its own right, but it is, in reality, part of a collection of six gems, which as a whole are called the Infinity Stones. Each Infinity Stone has a specific power or function. As you already know, the Tesseract's particular power is to create intergalactic portals. The gems were not created by any civilization, neither are they from any planet in existence, or that has ever existed, and they are as old as the universe itself. This is the reason why I told you that the Cube cannot really be explained by science since it doesn't comply with any law of physics known to any civilization." Mystic said.

"If the… I was starting to ask her about that when the lights began to flicker. I sighed. "JARVIS, what is she doing now?" I asked the AI.

"I'm sorry. Sir. Seraphine found the replacements of the arc reactor, and she is absorbing the energy from the reactors and the Tower's electrical power grid."

"I told you to keep her from causing trouble."

"I'm sorry. Sir."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to reprogram you after tonight." I sighed. The doll is going to end up putting the Tower in a blackout.

"I'm.." he started to say, and I interrupted him. "You are sorry. I already know. You already said that. Put me on speaker with Seraphine again."

"Ok. Sir."

"Seraphine. Stop absorbing the Tower's and the arc reactor's energy. You are going to put the Tower in a blackout. I just connected the Tower to that new clean energy arc reactor power source, and you are messing up the energy output projections." I said to her in an exasperated voice. Take a deep breath. Cool. I'm cool.

"I saw the arc reactor in your chest. The energy was so shiny, but I didn't eat the energy from the one you have with you because I thought you wouldn't like that. I got hungry, and I found a few of them in your lab."

Of course, she also eats energy, why the hell not. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, massaged my temples, and prayed to a God I don't believe in to give me patience. Looking at Mystic's expression isn't helping me to keep my composure. She is smirking, and by the way, her chest and stomach are moving, I can tell she is silently laughing. I don't know if I should be feeling horrified that Seraphine could have had easily made a snack out of my arc reactor, relieved that she decided not to do that, or angry because neither Seraphine or Mystic told me that Seraphine can absolve and eat energy.

"I will stop now," Seraphine said, and the lights went back to normal. "I already eat enough. Your energy output projections for the Tower's arc reactor power source is now shortened by 91 days. The reactor will last 274 days now instead of 365 days as previously projected. Sorry." She continued saying, and she didn't sound sorry at all. "I only got to eat the energy of two of the arc reactors you have in the lab, so the rest of them still have their original energy levels intact." She said as if saying that, since there are still some arc reactors she didn't eat, everything is fine.

"I forgot to mention that she absolves and feeds on energy to keep her power level from getting too low. She doesn't do it too often, only from time to time. Up until a few hours ago, she had been in hibernation for a few years, and she has been using her technopathic abilities a lot in the last few hours. So, I guess it makes sense that she needed to recharge." Mystic said shrugging and showing a little smile as if that small amount of information was completely inconsequential. I stared at her for a moment realizing that she probably avoided telling me about that just to see my reaction when I found out about it. I ignored her in the meanwhile.

"Ok. Fine, but don't do it again." I said to Seraphine.

"Unless I'm using my powers very often, I don't need to eat frequently. I won't need to eat anymore for a little while."

"Define a little while."

"Two or three weeks." I could figure out a solution to that by then.

"Ok. By then, I would have figured out how to set up a power source for you to eat that doesn't involve you absorbing the Tower's electricity."

"I'm ok with that."

"JARVIS put up the Mark suit's schematics for Seraphine. Save a copy of the file you have, and let her play with the new file." I said to the AI thinking that maybe looking at the Mark suit's schematics will keep her distracted for a few hours.

"Ok. Sir."

"JARVIS, audio privacy."

"Are you going to pretend you just happened to forget to tell me that Seraphine eats energy? Is there anything else you "forgot" to tell me? I asked her making air quotes on the word forgot.

"Well, now that you mention it. Seraphine tends to fall asleep after she eats or reads and learns a lot of information. She would fall asleep for about an hour or two. It's her way of resting and also a way for her brain to organize and store the information she learned, so it doesn't overwhelm her. Since she has both been reading and learning a lot of information and eating and absorbing energy recently, don't get alarmed if JARVIS interrupts you to tell you that she is laying down and isn't moving."

"Good. Now I know not to start to freak out, thinking that all of the sudden she dropped dead after just a few hours of being under my watch. Seriously, were you planning on telling me that or were you just going to let me panic when it happened? I don't even want to imagine how pissed off the pirate director would be if he suddenly gets a call from me to tell him: "Seraphine is dead, she was in the lab looking at a file in my computer, and the next second she curled up on the bench and stopped moving." That would go sooo well with him. Then an hour or two later I would call him again to tell him: "Never mind, false alarm she was just sleeping." I'm sure that if there is any way to be able to strangle someone over the phone, the pirate would be doing it at that moment."

"I was going to tell you about the sleeping part, and Seraphine wakes up if she feels any kind of touch. So, you would have realized almost right away that she is just sleeping. I knew that she wasn't going to try to absolve the energy from your arc reactor. I didn't think that she would start absorbing the Tower's electricity. I also didn't believe that she would be feeling the need to eat energy so soon after she has been awakened from her hibernation sleep. I didn't find it really important to mention it to you because I didn't think that it would happen."

I stared at her for a few seconds debating if it's worth getting into an argument with her over not mentioning those things to me. "Ok. Fine. I will let it go, for now." I said to her after a brief pause. "You were telling me about how the Tesseract wasn't created by any civilization, and I was about to ask you, If it wasn't created by any civilization, then by what was it created?" I asked her continuing with our previous conversation from before we were interrupted by Seraphine causing trouble again.

"The power contained within the Cube is the same type of energy responsible for the creation of the universe itself. In other words, if you believe in God the Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient you are looking at separate portions of its power." She said.

She continued with her explanation. "The plasma energy that's inside the Tesseract is called cosmic energy, and yes. This it is the same energy that spiritual people refer to when they are trying to describe the energy that connects the mind, soul, and physical body and gives it life. In the same way, the Cube is known as the Tesseract in some worlds, in others, it is called the Cosmic Cube. Separated, each of the Infinity Stones has the power to wipe out a whole planet, and they are known to be the most powerful weapons in the universe. However, together they can alter reality itself; and destroy, shape, and reshape entire galaxies. Loki is the first one that has come for it, but he will not be the last." She said.

So, the Tesseract is a compressed portion of the power of God the Creator, there are five more of these Infinity Stones somewhere, and they have the power to wipe out entire galaxies when they are united. No wonder this Psycho alien dude wants the Tesseract. These Infinity Gems must be the hottest commodity in the whole universe. Any megalomaniac wannabe villain would love to get his/her evil hands on one of those. No wonder Mystic said to take the whole bottle of alcohol. I'm way too sober to try to process all of this. I thought while I was draining the glass of Bourbon.

"So, in other words, the Tesseract is going to keep attracting evil psychotic aliens to earth. That's not going to be something the Pirate Director is going to be happy to hear. If these six Infinity Stones are so powerful, how is it that one of them ended up here on earth in Norway? And that still doesn't explain why you have a similar energy reading to the Tesseract." I said to her when I realized that she still hasn't told me her connection with the Cube.

I'm starting to get the impression that the little fact about the Tesseract being a portion of God's power is going to be least shocking news I'm going to hear tonight.

"Throughout the history of the universe, the Infinity Stones have been the reason for the worst wars and conflicts the realms have faced. Ever since the real power of the stones was discovered, and the realms have witnessed the untold destruction that the stones can produce either separate or together, it has been an agreement between the realms that the stones shall never be used. They are to be hidden away from anyone who may seek to use them."

"How can anyone be prevented from using the stones, though. I don't think that everyone that get their hands on one of those would take the time to advertise it. Unless that someone is a genocidal evil maniac that wants to use it to take over the universe or a planet like Loki wants to do." I said to her.

"The first intergalactic war in which all the six stones were united cost the complete destruction of planets and a few galaxies. The leaders of many of the advanced civilizations across the realms met to discuss how they would deal with the Infinity Stones after they realized that the stones were too dangerous to be used, and the stones need to be kept safe from anyone who would seek to misuse them. The leaders of the realms agreed that the stones need to be separated, scattered across the universe, and never to be attempted to be used again."

"Each of the stones was entrusted to peacekeeping worlds who are responsible for protecting it, keeping it secured with them, or hiding somewhere else in a secret, safe location. Every time one of the stones resurfaces, and it's activated, the process is repeated. Each stone emits an energy signal that is very specific and can be tracked by any planet or individual with access to the right type of long range technology once the stone has been activated. If any of the stones have been hidden in a safe distant location and the stone is found, once the stone has been activated, the peacekeeping planet responsible for its safe keeping sends emissaries to retrieve it. If the people or the individual holding the Infinity Stone don't give it up peacefully, then the peacekeeping planet uses any means necessary to retrieve the stone before it can be misused. That includes using lethal force or even going to war. In the case of the Tesseract, the peacekeeping planet responsible for its protection is Asgard."

"Are you saying that this Loki was sent from Asgard to retrieve the Tesseract? If that is the case, then, now that he has it, he is going back to Asgard with it and leave us alone right. Though, when I saw the video Seraphine showed me, he didn't seem diplomatic about it. He went straight to killing everyone in the room with that weird looking spear of destiny of his." I said to her confused. "If Loki was sent from Asgard to negotiate a peaceful surrender of the Tesseract why did he killed everyone in the room first instead of just well... Negotiating. Does that mean that Asgard is still going to declare war on our planet even though they have the Cube? And who was the big idiot who decided that Earth is the perfect place to hide an Infinity Stone?" Anyone that has spent even an hour on this planet should know how much of a bad idea it's to leave such a powerful weapon anywhere near humans. It's a known fact that we humans don't have the best track record for being the most peaceful people.

"Loki is clearly working on his own. Asgard wouldn't send anyone to this planet to take the Tesseract by force unless it's entirely necessary, and they have had exhausted any other options. The Asgardians would try to maintain the peace with other planets and avoid any unnecessary bloodshed."

"So, Loki is here on his own agenda. Well, at least that is better than another planet declaring war on us and having to have to fight against a worldwide alien invasion. Fighting one individual with a powerful object is better than going to war against an entire planet. How did the Cube end up here?"

"The Tesseract was previously being kept on Asgard. About one thousand years ago, Asgard went into a war with a hostile race which wanted to suppress and take control over other planets which had no means of defending themselves against them. At the moment, the Tesseract was stolen from Asgard by a small group of these individuals who managed to sneak into Asgard's vault where the Cube was being kept. Odin, the Asgardian king, sent his elite and most trustworthy warriors to track them. They managed to find the Cube, but in the fight trying to retrieve it, the Cube was activated and transported the group to this planet. The Cube has since then been lost here on Earth. Since the Cube was activated, the Asgardians knew that the Cube opened a portal to Earth, but they were unable to pinpoint its exact location. Only a handful of people myself included knew that the Cube is here on Earth, and since it wasn't activated until recently, it was believed that it was hidden in a safe place."

"Why did they hid it in this planet, though?"

"Because none of the warriors were able to return to Asgard with the Cube, it was assumed that all the Asgardian warriors died from injuries sustained during the fight with the group who stole the Tesseract. But, the Asgardian warriors must have managed to defeat the opposing group because the Tesseract wasn't used again after it was teleported along side the two groups to this planet. It was assumed that at least one Asgardian warrior must have survived long enough to be able to hide the Cube in a safe place here on the planet. After he had realized that he would probably die from the injuries sustained during the fight, it would have been too dangerous for him to attempt to activate the Tesseract to teleport himself and the Cube to Asgard. The warrior being mortally injured wouldn't have survived being exposed to the power of the Cube after it was activated, and the Tesseract would have been left out in the open to be easily picked up by anyone who could track its energy signature. If the person who activates it dies in the process of being teleported, there would be no guarantee of the Cube making it back to the intended destination that the individual who was trying to use it wanted. There was also the possibility of the Tesseract being tracked and found by another group of the same people who stole it before it could have been retrieved by the Asgardians. Another reason could have been that the warrior thought that the Cube was no longer safe in Asgard, and he decided the Tesseract would be safer being hidden on this planet because nobody would think to look for it here. The reason for the Cube being hidden on this planet could have been either of the reasons previously stated or a combination of all or some of those reasons."

"Ok. I understand why one of the Asgardian warriors hid the Cube here on the planet. The man was dying, so he knew that he wasn't going to be able to make it back to Asgard. He wanted to make sure that the Tesseract was safe. It makes sense. Ok. Now I know what the Tesseract is and how it ended up here, but that still doesn't explain why your energy signature is similar to the Cube's."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the background information for the Tesseract. In this chapter, Mystic refers to the Infinity Stones as being a portion of the power of God. She refers to the Marvel's Universe story of how the Infinity Stones were created by the Cosmic Entity called Nemesis.
> 
> "Over a thousand billion years ago, before all recorded time, there existed a single solitary entity, a sentient being with limitless power. At the time, this entity was the only living thing that existed within any and all realities. It was all there was, and all there was, was it. It was infinite and forever. It was more alone than any being has ever been, and it eventually chose to put an end to itself. But, such power can not just dissipate. From power released during its death, everything, reality itself, was created in all its forms. When this entity's body shattered, the manifestations of each of its gifts were created and became the Infinity Gems. Each of these Gems represents a power this being possessed: Power, Time, Reality, Space, Mind, and Soul. Any person who becomes a Gem host gains the power of that Gem."
> 
> The description of Nemesis I used above is the description which is given to Thanos when he learns the origin of the Infinity Gems. The particular description I used is two separate quotes which are taken from the Thanos Quest #2 Comic, and the Ultraforce I #10 Comic. You can look at it and read more information about Nemesis on the Comics on this website:
> 
> www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/nemesise.htm
> 
> I'm mentioning the citations of my sources here in this in this way because I know that the subject of religion and God is a very sensitive subject, and I don't want to offend anyone who reads this story. I'm following the origins story of the Infinity Gems as it is mentioned in the Marvel Universe Comics. So, yes, in this story the creator of the Universe is a suicidal Cosmic Entity called Nemesis and each of the Gems contains the manifestation of one its powers. On the same subject of religion, and because as I already said this is a very sensitive subject, I also want to warn anyone reading this story that the next chapter contains the subject of reincarnations and souls. That part of the plot follows the Inuyasha Series. If any of this goes against your religious belief, and you think that it may be offensive for you to read, then you may want to reconsider reading any further. In the same way, as I previously warned the readers about the polyamory themes that are going to be present later on in the story, I'm warning you now about this too.
> 
> The Gifts which this entity possessed that each of the Gems represent are:
> 
> Power Gem- Omnipotence, Time Gem- Omniscience, Reality Gem- Alteration of Reality and Creation of alternative Realities, Space Gem- Omnipresence, Mind Gem- Universal Subconscious, The Soul Gem- Sentience and Life Energy.
> 
> I made up all the others explanations about how the realms agreed to protect the Gems and to never use them because they are too dangerous, and about how the Tesseract ended up lost on Earth. I don't know how both of those things happened. I'm sure that there is a good, very long explanation in the comics as to why the Gems are scattered across the universe and hidden or in the hands of people or planets responsible for protecting them. However, I decided to make my life easier and make up an explanation for it that goes with the plot of this story and what the movies have been doing so far. I did look for an explanation for why the Tesseract ended up being hidden on Earth in Norway, but I couldn't find any, so I made that up too. The only information I could find about it w


	30. "I'm Definitely not Drunk Enough for This."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mystic explains her connection to Tesseract.

"The reason why I have an energy signature similar to the Tesseract is that I'm what is known as the Living Gem. I was born with one of the six gems inside my body."

I found myself suddenly coughing and spewing my drink on my shirt and the couch. "What?" I managed to say in between coughs.

"Tony, calm down and breathe. What a waste of good alcohol." She said as if what she just said is something of no importance.

Is not like she just told me that she has one of these Infinity Stones, the most powerful weapons in the universe, inside her. Except for the fact that she totally did. I took a few seconds to get the coughing under control. Just like that, things went from hard to believe to plainly crazy, and all of the sudden everything started to make sense. Mystics' reluctance to tell me any personal information about herself or her origin. Even the reason why she has never told me her name is starting to make sense now.

Now, I understand why she told me that she has the worst luck in the universe when it comes to getting into trouble, a lot of people tend to want something from her, and they don't care about the way they go about trying to get it. I also understand why she said that if people knew that she cares about me, it would put me in danger. People will try to get to her by using me. It also makes sense when she said that names have power and hers is her power. She wouldn't tell me her real name because of that and told me to call her Mystic instead. "It means mystery, and that is what I will be to you, a mystery." She had said that time.

All of this time, she really has been trying to keep me safe by not telling me about her background. If I don't know any details about her, I won't be able to tell anybody about her and her connection to me. If nobody knows about her connection to me, no one will try to use it to get to her. She told me not to tell anyone that I can see her, and I discounted it at the time as her trying to keep people from thinking that I'm crazy. Though, I doubt that anyone on this planet knows what the Tesseract really is or about Mystic, or… do they? I am starting to think about S.H.I.E.L.D now.

"I'm definitely not drunk enough for this," I said aloud this time. "Do the Pirate and S.H.I.E.L.D. know what the Tesseract is, what you are, or about these Infinity Stones?" I asked her.

"Neither the Director nor S.H.I.E.L.D. are aware of that. When the Cube was stolen, S.H.I.E.L.D. was doing tests on it to try to understand its power and the type of energy it contains. They know the Tesseract can create portals, but little else."

"Ok. Good." I said relieved.

One thing is for S.H.I.E.L.D. to accidentally activate the Cube while they are studying it to try to figure out exactly what it is and how it works. It's another entirely different thing for them to activated knowing what the Cube is and that is going to attract the attention of all sorts of power hungry evil psycho villains. Plus, it could attract an army of people from the peacekeeping planet responsible for the protection of the Gem if anyone starts to try to use it or accidentally activate it.

"How do you know that S.H.I.E.L.D. was doing tests on the Tesseract to try to understand its power and the type of energy it contains when the Cube was stolen?" I asked her curious to know how she found out about that.

"That's because Seraphine knows about it, and she told me. She and I share a mental link that allows us to communicate telepathically with each other. When our mental link is active, we can see and hear whatever the other is seeing and hearing as well as share our thoughts if we want. Our metal link works like a cell phone call. Both of us can communicate thoughts with each other by making a "call" to the other, and one of us can end the "call" whenever either one of us wants. That's the reason why Seraphine doesn't know that I know you even though we have a mental link. Both of us, can share whatever information we want with the other and still keep private the thoughts that either of us doesn't want to share with the other."

That is an amazing ability. Which one of them has the power? "That's a really fascinating ability. Is that something that either you or Seraphine can do with anyone, or is it something exclusive between the two of you? I have so many more questions about it, but if we start to talk about it, then we are going to be derailed from the topic of the Tesseract."

"The ability is Seraphine's, but it's something that is exclusive to the both of us. Seraphine as a sentient weapon has the ability to bond with and select whoever she feels is worthy of wielding her power. The person she bonds with becomes her companion. The bond between a sentient weapon and its wielder is usually a lifetime permanent bond. The sentient weapon is the only one that can terminate the bond by rejecting its wielder if the sentient weapon feels that person becomes unworthy of the sentient weapon because the individual no longer meets the requirements for which the weapon was created. That's how I became her Khalila. She bonded with me when she felt that I'm worthy of her. The bond between the two of us is what allows us to share a mental link between us."

"What are requirements that a person has to fulfill to be worthy of a sentient weapon? Does it vary from weapon to weapon? I'm not supposed to be asking you more questions, but now I'm so curious about that, that I can't stop myself from asking about it." I asked her; I wanted to know how the bond between the two of them work.

"The requirements vary from weapon to weapon. If you are curious about why Seraphine chose to bond with me, then you can ask her, how I become he Khalila. She can tell you why she chose to bond with me. Anyone who doesn't understand the bond that a sentient weapon and its wielder share, thinks that the wielder owns the sentient weapon and that is the farthest from the truth. I'm more Seraphine's that she will ever be mine. She chose me not the other way around. Among civilizations who have sentient weapons or are able to create sentient weapons, it's considered a great and rare honor and a privilege to be chosen as a wielder of a sentient weapon. The bond between a sentient weapon and its wielder is a partnership. The weapon allows its wielder to use its power, and in exchange, the wielder of the weapon allows it to fulfill the intent for which the sentient weapon was created. The genuineness of the wielder's intent and the strength of his or her will allows a sentient weapon to grow in power and potential. A sentient weapon is as powerful or as weak as the strength and intensity of the mental and emotional intent of its wielder."

"The relationship between Seraphine and you is quite fascinated. I have never seen anything like her, and I have never even heard of the word sentient weapon. Seraphine explained to me that she while she is a sentient weapon and also similar to an AI. She is also different because she is more like a living being than just a sentient object. The connection between her as a sentient weapon while also being a living being and you as her wielder and Khalilah is fascinating. It must be much more complex than if she were to be a regular sentient weapon. Do… No. I'm going to stop now. I can ask you about it some other time. Right now, this whole thing with a crazy alien and the Tesseract takes priority. Ok. Let's continue the previous conversation. You were telling me that you were born with one of these Infinity Stones inside your body." I said to her trying to calm doing my increasing curiosity and go back on track to the previous topic. I can ask Seraphine and Mystic about that after the problem with Loki has been taken care of.

"The Infinity Stone I was born with is called the Soul Gem. I was unaware that I was born with the Gem inside my body until it was pulled from my body when I was fifteen. I discovered that the Gem is a powerful object which gives anyone who has it an impressive amount of power. The Gem also tends to corrupt anyone who came into contact with it. In its physical form, it tends to draw anyone who touches it insane and turns them evil, power hungry, and bloodthirsty."

"How were you born with this Soul Gem inside you? And why….. I was asking her.

"Sir. Sorry to interrupt. There seems to be a problem with Seraphine." Jarvis said

"Now what did she do?" I asked him. What has Seraphine done this time? The question or some variation of it is starting to become my go to response every time Jarvis interrupts our conversation.

"She appears to be….. malfunctioning. Sir." The Ai said, hesitating for a moment on the right word to use to describe what is happening with Seraphine.

"Describe malfunctioning," I replied to Jarvis already suspecting what the problem is this time.

"I think is better if you see the footage. Sir."

"Ok. Show it to me on the Starkpad I left on the holographic table." I said to him, getting up from the couch and walking in the direction of the holographic table to retrieve the pad.

"Ok. Sir." He said.

I picked up the pad once I reached the table and looked at the video feed Jarvis wanted to show me. The video is a zoomed-up view of Seraphine showing her hovering in front of one of the lab's computer monitors and looking at it while notes are being written on one of the Mark suit schematics. She yawned, eyes closing, head dropping forward, and body going limp, while she is slowly descending towards the table below her. Then, she laid immobile on the table when she reached it. It's clear that the kid is completely out.

"Jarvis, has she moved at all since she dropped on the table?" I asked him, expecting the answer to be negative.

"No. Sir." He answered, confirming what I already thought.

I looked at Mystic, seeking confirmation that Seraphine is in fact sleeping. "She tends to fall asleep rather abruptly when she does fall asleep. You can go to the lab to check on her and wake her up if you want. As I said before, she wakes up whenever she feels when something makes contact with her. Though, she won't fall back asleep once she is awake until she eats again or uses her technopathic abilities to read and learn a vast amount of information again. She will be slower and not as animated as she is normally. I guess that being sleep deprived affects her the same as it would a regular person. She just needs to rest a lot less than a regular person." She replied to my silent inquiry.

I debated if I should go to the lab and wake up Seraphine just to make sure that she is fact sleeping and there is nothing wrong with her but decided against it. If the kid doesn't go back to sleep after waking up and the lack of sleep is going to make her tired and slower until she falls asleep again, it's better if I let her sleep. She is going to wake up soon anyway.

"She is sleeping. Let her rest. It looks like she needs it. Turn down the music on the lab and dim the lights. Let me know when she wakes up. She should wake up in an hour or two."

"Ok. Sir." He said without any questions. I walked back to the couch with the pad and sat down again.

"So, how were you born with this Soul Gem inside you? And, why are you not evil and crazy if you have it inside you?" I asked her.

"I was born with a physical manifestation of the Soul Gem inside my body. This manifestation of the Soul Gem was called Shikon, and it was created by a woman named Midoriko. She was a very powerful priestess with the power to purify the souls of evil dark beings and demons. A holy person."

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me that evil thing was created by a holy person? Now, that doesn't make sense. Not that anything that you have told me so far makes sense, but this last part makes even less sense. Why would a priestess create something that would turn people evil and give them a crazy amount of power on top of that? And, that still doesn't explain how you were born with the gem inside you if it was created by some priestess."

"The Gem wasn't created by Midoriko. What was created by Midoriko was a physical manifestation of it."

"Now you are making even less sense, either she created it, or she didn't, and I thought you said that the Tesseract wasn't created by any civilization, which means that this other Infinity Gem wasn't neither since the six Infinity Stones are part of a set. This meaning that this Gem couldn't have been made by a person or a priestess or whatever this person was. Now I'm confusing myself too."

She just smiled at me, and I immediately knew she is going to tell me more about that spiritual thing that makes zero sense. "The reason why Midoriko didn't really create the Soul Gem and only made a physical manifestation of Gem is the same reason why I was born with it inside my body. I know you aren't going to take long to figure it out."

I sighed. Of course, she would choose a moment like this to go back to being all enigmatic and unhelpful. "Now you don't even want to tell me. I would be really angry with you right now if I weren't expecting you to do that at some point. Does it have to be now, though? This is one of those things that make zero sense, isn't it? I'm going to need another bottle of Whiskey."

"It makes sense once you think about for a little bit, and you can't drink too much. You need to be 100% functional tomorrow. If you arrive at S.H.I.E.L.D. with a hangover, Director Fury isn't going want you on the Avengers team."

I sighed in resignation. If I want answers, I need to figure it out on my own. Ok. Let's see. The Soul Gem was… and that's when it hit me. Mystic is right; it does make sense. "The Soul Gem wasn't created by Midoriko, but only a physical manifestation of it was because the Gem came from her. It was created from her soul. The Gem was literary her. She didn't create her soul because people can't create souls, they are born with them. Since the Gem was her soul, it wasn't created by her, but at the same time, it was, which must mean that Midoriko must have pulled her soul or part of her soul from her body and concentrated into an object. The reason why you were born with it inside you even though it was created by Midoriko, and at the same time it wasn't created by Midoriko was because someone must have absorbed the Shikon into their soul. That person died, and his or her soul was reborn as you, so the Gem took a physical form again when you were born. That doesn't make sense, but it completely makes sense." I said to her satisfied, and she smiled at me.

"See. I knew you would get it."

Then, I got an epiphany. "This follows Physics laws mainly the Law of Conservation of Energy, which says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another. The Cube is mainly composed of that unidentified element, which is what produces all the unlimited energy it has. You said it's the same type of energy that the soul has and what the life energy of every living thing is made of, so that means that this Soul Gem has the same type of energy. That means that it can be transferred into or be absorbed by a person's soul. The soul understands what the mind can't comprehend thing you told me, huh. I told you that everything can be explained with science. Take that." I said smugly to her very satisfied with myself. "Finally, things are starting to make sense." I continued saying.

Her smile widened. "Wait, you totally knew that already, and you were waiting for me to realize it. I can never get one over you." I said deflating.

"I find it really satisfying that you realize now that all this time you have been telling me how spiritual stuff is all nonsense and, in reality, it's just science that humans haven't been able to identify yet." She said continuing to smile.

"Yeah, Yeah. It isn't nonsense like I previously thought. You don't have to be so smug about it. Going back to the Soul Gem, you said a physical manifestation of the Gem, which means that the Shikon which Midoriko created wasn't the original Soul Gem, but another physical manifestation of it. What happened to the original Soul Gem? How did Midoriko end up being able to create a new Soul Gem? Though, I have a good idea about the how for the last two questions.

"You are correct. The Shikon a new physical manifestation of the original Soul Gem. I'm curious to hear how you think Midoriko was able to create a new Soul Gem."

"As I said before the Soul Gem follows the Law of Conservation of Energy. The Gem has the same type of energy as living beings, which means that it can be transferred into or be absorbed by a living being's soul. My theory is that someone managed to destroy the original Soul Gem. Since the power of the Gem couldn't be destroyed, its power was transferred to the person who destroyed and absorbed by this person's soul. The same process that happened with the Shikon which ended up with you being born with it happened with the original Soul Gem. This person died, and his or her soul was reborn into Midoriko. Midoriko may not have even been the next reincarnation of this person. The process of reincarnation may have been repeated several times until Midoriko was born. So, did I get it right, or not?"

"You are correct again. I'm not the first Living Gem. There have been many Living Gems before me, but other than the original Living Gem and Midoriko, it's not known how many Living Gems have existed. Before me becoming the Living Gem, no one knew that the Soul Gems powers transferred with the soul of the being who had absorbed its power and into every reincarnation of that person. It was believed that the Soul Gem's powers were lost after the original Living Gem died. Even after the Gem was taken out of my body, no one knew that it was the Infinity Stone Soul Gem. Everyone thought that it was something similar, but not the same thing, that's why they call it the Shikon Jewel, which means the jewel of souls. It took a while after I managed to destroy the physical form of the Shikon, and it merged with my soul, to be discovered that the Shikon was, in fact, the Soul Gem, and I had become the new Living Gem by being merged with it."

"Why is that?" I asked her.

"Previously to me becoming the Soul Gem, there is only one known person who had merged with the Soul Gem. The original Soul Gem's physical form was just like the Tesseract and the rest of the Infinity Stones. It was an object too powerful to be able to be wielded by anyone. The Gem corrupted the souls of the ones around it and gave them a significant amount of power, but destroyed the body of the people that tried to use it. The Physical form of the Gem was destroyed by a powerful angelical being who came in contact with it and tried to contain its power. Since the power of the gem transferred into the angel, she became the first Living Gem. A series of events happened, which lead to her death. Since nobody knew that the Soul Gem had merged with the soul of the angel, it was believed to had been lost and destroyed with her death."

"It wasn't until a few centuries after being merged with the Gem that I discovered that in reality, the angel's soul merged with the Soul Gem. Her soul was reincarnated into a mortal, and the Soul Gems powers were transferred to this person. Since angels are rarely born, she couldn't be reincarnated again as an angel. It's now evident that this continued to happen and when the mortal host of the Gem died, the cycle was repeated up until the Gem was reincarnated into Midoriko. I came in contact with another Infinity Stone, and that's how I learned the true origin of the Shikon."

"I have more questions. First, what were the series of events that happened? And second why are angels rarely born?" I asked, wanting to know how the angel lady died.

"The answer to the first question is something that I will explain later. As for the second question, the answer is because of the disappearance of angels, which I will also tell you later about it."

"And, the reason why you can't tell me about it now is…." I said to her wanting her to answer the previous question.

"Because, that's another long story, and I don't have time for it now."

"Fine, you can tell me another day, but don't think that I will forget it. I have a suspicion that you are avoiding telling me about it for a reason, so I'm going to get you to tell me about it later. Going back to Midoriko, there is something I'm wondering about. If that energy is what keeps living beings, well, … living, that means that Midoriko probably died creating the Soul Gem. If that was the case, … well, … damned, that must have sucked big time." I said to her.

I continued talking, "So, did she die or not? And how did the Shikon become evil? If it was created by Midoriko, and she was a holy person, priestess, then it makes no sense that the Soul Gem was corrupted and turned everyone it touched evil. Though, the turning people evil part if the Gem was corrupted makes sense now. If the thing was corrupted, and it was made of the same energy that the soul is made of, then it makes sense that it can transfer energy to the people near it, and in turn corrupt the soul of the person that has it. The giving power to anyone that touches it also makes sense now. You see, now that things make sense I can follow along. If the Gem turned the people that touched it evil, how is it that you didn't turn into an insane psycho as well? There are some things that you still haven't told me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here you had the explanation of how the Tesseract and "Mystic" have the similar energy signatures. So, now you have a confirmation of what character of the Inuyasha series Mystic is and how she ties into the Marvel Universe. The coincidences between the Shikon and the Soul Gem were just way too many, and I couldn't help myself. Both, have the same powers. This is the reason why I did the Inuyasha and Marvel Universe crossover. Some of the elements of both of them are too similar and fit so well together to pass up the opportunity.
> 
> Other than the explanation of "Mystic" being the Living Gem, there is also another important part of the plot happening in this chapter. "Mystic" explained to Tony how her bond with Seraphine works. She had a very good reason for saying that to him. There is a lot more about the reason why Totosai and Mystic created Seraphine that not even Seraphine knows about. This plays into the reason why they made a pact to no create anymore living weapons. This is going to play a part in the story and the series later on.
> 
> I want to know what you think is the reason why "Mystic" took the time to explain to Tony the bond between sentient weapon and its wielder. Also, how surprised were you to find out that the Shikon and the Soul Gem are the same thing and why the Girl/Mystic/You know who is called the Living Gem. Were you a little Surprised? Or not at all because you already figured it out way back. Though, if you have been to my profile page, then you knew about it already. I knew that I wanted her to have that conversation with Tony because Tony being to Tony was going to ask a lot of questions and rationalize it in a way that makes more sense.
> 
> So, yeah, please comment and review. I want to hear your opinion. Even if you didn't like the explanation, then you can tell me how confusing it was. If you figured out the Girl's identity way back, you can also leave a comment to brag about it.


	31. Shakespearean Tragedy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Shikon Jewel history.

"Midoriko was a powerful priestess, and she had the ability to kill evil spirits and demons by purifying their souls. As a result of this, she was frequently fighting these demons, and she was often being attacked by them. When she created this new physical manifestation of the Soul Gem, she had been ambushed by a large group of demons. She fought for days and managed to kill most of them. By the seventh day of fighting non-stop, she was really exhausted, and a few demons still remained. These demons were also the strongest ones, and she had already spent the majority of her energy and was too tired to continue fighting. On the seventh day, one of the demons managed to wound her severely. When Midoriko realized that she couldn't win, she decided to use the last remains of her power and concentrate it into an attack that would kill the rest of the demons. She knew that she was going to die anyway; this way her death would have ensured that the rest of her demons were also killed with her. With her last ounce of energy, Midoriko reached within her own body for the strength to cease the demons' souls, but she forced out her own soul along with the souls of the demons in the process. The concentrated blast of power made by Midoriko when she forced out the demons' and her soul created the new physical manifestation of the Soul Gem, which became the Shikon Jewel. She didn't have enough power to purify the demons' souls, so her and the demons' souls were trapped and imprisoned inside the Shikon Jewel. Since Midoriko had a bright soul and the demons had dark souls, the Jewel became balanced, but it was easily influenced by the darkness or the light in the heart of the people who came in contact with it."

"So, she did die. Again, damned that must have been a horrible way of dying. I have to say, though. Kudos to her for originality. She went out in style! I'm going to add that kind of death to my growing list of possible scenarios to try to avoid dying from. It's going to be right under drowning. What… Don't look at me with that judgy expression. That's my way of saying that I think she was brave. I admire the way she decided that since she was losing, and she was going to die anyway, she decided that she was going to take all the demons with her even if she knew she probably didn't have enough power left to kill them all. So, how did the Jewel became evil?" I asked her before she could say anything about my originality comment.

She stared at me for a few seconds silently debating on giving me a piece of her mind about my comment but apparently decided to drop it because she continued with the story. "Since its creation, the Shikon was sought by greedy people who only wanted to obtain power from it, and that darkness was feed into the Jewel. Over time, the darkness inside it grew to the extent that it started to corrupt the souls of the people who came in contact with it even if that person wasn't a bad person. That is how it turned people evil. Since the Shikon was created from the souls of the demons and Midoriko, it was also sentient. Over time, as the darkness inside it grew, it started to take over the minds of the ones that touched it, corrupting them, and making them insane and thirsty for power and bloodshed. The Gem wanted to incite conflict so it could feed on it. We later discovered that the Gem didn't just feed on the dark energy of the people souls around it; It also wanted to cause bloodshed because it absolved the souls of the people who sought to use it once they died. It gained more power that way."

"So, the gem was evil because the people who initially had it were evil, and it absorbed all of their bad vibes. Ok. Now that part makes sense. How did it become part of your soul though? And why didn't you become evil too?"

"When it became evident of how dangerous the Jewel was, a group of Demon Slayers took the Shikon into their custody to protect it and keep it from being used. However, by the time the Gem came into the possession of the Slayers, it was already too corrupted. The power of the Shikon attracted the attention of any demon within a few hundred miles. The Slayers were continuously attacked by the demons who could sense the power of the Jewel and the Shikon itself was starting to influence its keepers. They decided that they needed to entrust the Gem to someone who could contain and purify it as well as protect it and hide it from the demons that were constantly after it. They needed a powerful priest or priestess for that since only a person with holy powers could contain and purify the Jewel. The Demon Slayers were ordinary mortals who were trained to fight and kill demons. Neither of them possessed any holy abilities, so they set out to find a holy person with the sufficient amount of power to protect, contain, and purify the Shikon Jewel."

"Is that how you were born with the Gem inside you? This person must have had purified the Shikon and ended up absorbing it, so it became part of this person's soul? I remember that the belief about reincarnations also establishes that the soul contains the consciousness of a being, and it never dies with the body. It just gets transferred into another body, and it's reborn again. Now that I know that the soul is in reality made of cosmic energy, it makes sense that it would follow the Law of Conservation of Energy. It leaves the body when it dies and goes and creates a new one and gives life to it. Since this is raw life and creation energy, it makes sense that it's most concentrated in living beings."

"Since you have previously told me that you don't believe in anything related to spirituality, I didn't know you knew about reincarnations."

"You are frequently talking about these kinds of things to me, so of course I researched it and read about it. I discarded it afterward because it didn't have any scientific backing. Though, now that I know that at least a lot of that stuff is just something that hasn't been proven yet, I'm going to be interested in it. So, I'm I right or not?"

"In a way, you are right. The Shikon was absorbed by her soul, and it became part of her soul. But, she didn't purify the Jewel. I was born with the Shikon inside me because she took it to the afterlife when she died."

"Ok. I'm confused again, so the afterlife is real. Souls, reincarnations, demons, and holy people with powers exist, so sure, the afterlife, heaven, and hell are real too, why the hell not. The next thing you are probably going to tell is that people tumbling down a hole in the ground and ending up in some fantasy world are everyday things." I said to her remembering her Alice in Wonderland references.

"Well….." she started to say.

"No, no, no, nooo. I draw the line in hearing about heaven, hell, and demons. If you tell me that the entrance a wonderland fantasy world is located in some person's backyard in some inconspicuous place like Kansas, I'm going to lose my shit. I reached my limit with heaven and hell. I can't process much more than that tonight. I refuse to hear about trips to wonderland today. You were telling me about this holy person that the Demon Slayers gave the evil Shikon Jewel too. Let's continue with that."

She smiled and continued with the story, "the person who the demon slayers entrusted the Shikon Jewel to was a priestess named Kikyo ….." She proceeded to tell me the story of how this priestess Kikyo was a powerful priestess who was able to purify the dark energy of the Shikon enough to balance out again the light and dark power of the Jewel. The story takes a turn for the worst and becomes interesting when she met a bandit named Onigumo and a half demon named Inuyasha. Kikyo and Inuyasha fell in love even though she was a holy person and he a demon and they were natural enemies. That's when the story became a Shakespearean tragedy about two star-cross lovers with a dreadful ending. One of those heartbreaking stories that make people feel all sad and mushy when they hear it. Except, this one has a fascinating twist and both of them were betrayed by this Onigumo guy who made a deal with a bunch of demons and offered his soul and body to them in exchange for a new demonic body. Onigumo became a psychotic evil demon named Naraku. Talk about a deal with the devil. That's just the kind of disturbing, twisted thing a bad guy would do.

Anyways, continuing on, this Onigumo/evil demon/Naraku guy tricked Inuyasha and Kikyo into thinking that they attacked and betrayed each other. Inuyasha stole the Shikon thinking that Kikyo had shot him with arrows and wanted to kill him. Kikyo pinned Inuyasha to a tree with an arrow and placed a curse on him, which put him on a coma sleep, thinking that Inuyasha was the one that attacked her and severely injured her. She died afterward from the injury from Onigumo/Naraku attack and told her sister to burn her body once she dies so that the Shikon Gem would go with her to the afterlife. I liked how the story has this twist at the end when the man is the one that ends up being cursed with an eternal coma/sleep spell. Though, I imagine that the guy woke up with a hell of a neck cramp when the curse was lifted. Sleeping pinned up vertically against a tree for years couldn't have been a comfortable position. There should be a movie or a series about this story. I bet it would become very popular.

This time I decided to keep my thoughts to myself. I didn't comment on how I think that the twist at the end of that story was interesting, or that I also find original the part in the story where this Naraku guy gives his body and soul to a bunch of demons to be devoured in exchanged for a new demonic body. I mean, the guy was a complete nutjob and totally evil, but he was a mastermind. The idea of tricking Inuyasha and Kikyo into thinking that they were attacking each other was just ingenious. They would turn against one another, take the other out, and he just needed to step aside, enjoy the show, and get the Shikon Jewel without any resistance. Granted that he couldn't get the Jewel because Kikyo took the Shikon with her to the afterlife when she died; if it hasn't been for that, the plan would have worked perfectly. Based on Mystic's expression when I made my last comment, I don't think she is going to appreciate it if I tell her that I find Naraku's evil, twisted, and completely deranged way of thinking to be rather interesting.

I chose to comment on something else instead. "You still haven't told me how is it that you didn't become insane and evil when you absorbed the Soul Gem/Shikon Jewel, but I figured it out anyway. The reason is that since Kikyo was a priestess/holy person, then you are one as well. Her powers were transferred to you through her soul. So, I'm I right or not?" I said to her pleased that I figured it out on my own.

"Yes, you are." She said confirming my assumption.

"I knew it. It wasn't hard to figure it out. Kikyo was a priestess, and you said that she was a powerful one. If you are her reincarnation, it means that you are one as well."

"Well, now you know about the Tesseract and the rest of the Infinity Stones. I have given you the information you needed, and you now also know the reason why I have a similar energy signal as the Cube. I will take my leave. You still have to read the rest of those files, and Seraphine is going to wake up soon, get bored playing in the lab by herself, and come back soon. By the way, that man I mentioned before, the one that I loved. He is Inuyasha, and I met him on my first trip to a fantasy world when I tumbled down a hole in the ground. Also, the entrance to a wonderland fantasy world is located in a person's backyard in an inconspicuous place, but it isn't in Kansas." And with that, she started to disappear and dissolve into tiny shimmering lights in the same way she always does, and I was left stuttering and with even more questions as it always happens when she visits.

"Wait, what? You… You can't just tell me something like that and just disappear." I was saying to her. By the time I finished my sentence, she was already completely gone, and I was left alone with my thoughts once again. I sighed and poured myself another glass of bourbon. At least, I got some answers tonight, not exactly the answers that I wanted to hear, but answers all the same. Though, now I'm left with questions regarding a girl tumbling down a hole in the ground and into a fantasy land and about the disappearance of angels. Because, apparently, heaven, hell, demons, and angels exist, or existed in the case of angels, and people are reincarnated. Also, there are six objects called Infinity Stones which contain a concentrated, raw large portion of the power of God. One of these Infinity Stones is here on Earth. A psycho maniac alien god stole it, and he is probably going to try to use it to take over the planet. To add the cherry on top of that, Mystic is a holy, really, really powerful being who possess a portion of the power of God, the God, God the creator of the universe God.

How old is Mystic anyways? I was going to ask her, but after we were interrupted, I forgot about it. She said she is considered old by many civilizations, but compared to the Tesseract she is like a newborn baby. She said she discovered the true origin of the Shikon and that it was, in fact, the Soul Gem a few hundred years after she merged with the Gem. That means that she is a few hundred years old at the very least, but that doesn't give me a good reference for how old she is. How old is considered old by many civilizations? A few hundred years? One thousand? Five thousand? Ten thousand? She could be anywhere between a few hundred years old to up to a few hundred thousand years old. Earth itself is a few billion years old, and compared to the universe, our galaxy is a relatively young part of the universe. Mystic didn't mention anything sufficient for me to be able to calculate an accurate estimate of how much time has passed since the disappearance of the angels and the time she was born. This reminds me again of that conversation the second time I saw her after meeting her, and I was arguing with her that she was a hallucination and nothing she said was going to convince me that she wasn't one.

" _Listen, whoever you are. Unless you are like some sort of angel or a spirit, then you are a hallucination. Unfortunately for you, I don't believe in angels, God, or any of that supernatural nonsense that a lot of people like to believe, so that means you are a hallucination." I said to her. Nothing she says to me is going to convince me she isn't a hallucination._

" _I am an angel and a spirit, and I'm not a hallucination." She replied to me._

" _Even if I were to believe you, which as I just said I don't, you can't be an angel and a spirit at the same time." Those are two different things, so that isn't possible._

" _Why can't I?" She asked me._

" _Because, angels are heavenly beings and spirits are dead people. Those are two entirely different things."_

" _You are wrong about spirits being only dead people. A spirit is the projection of a soul. Every being in this universe has a soul, so that means that any being can be a spirit. Since a spirit is a soul's projection, it doesn't necessarily mean that the being who is projecting itself is dead. A spirit can be a living being or a dead one. As for being both things, someone can be multiple things at the same time. People can't be defined by only one label all the time, so yes. I'm an angel and a spirit as well as many other things, but if it please you, you can think of me as either an angel or a spirit because you seem to have the need to identify exactly what and who I am and place a label on me. I have many label and titles, and I am many things. I am an angel and a devil, divine and hellish, a contradiction and an impossibility. What you see me as and think of me as is going to be entirely dependent on your point of view. A word can have multiple meaning depending on the context is in. I'm a different thing to anyone that knows me." She said to me, explaining why she can be both things at the same time._

" _That sounds like a speech coming from God. You don't look like God to me." I said to her not believing a single word she said._

" _I'm definitely not God. Though, some civilizations view me as a goddess. I'm curious as to what would God look like to you."_

" _I don't know, but he definitely wouldn't look like a fairytale medieval elf princess," I said to her convinced that if God were to be real, he definitely wouldn't look like her._

" _What makes you sure that God is a he, and why wouldn't God look like a medieval princess." Of course, she would argue about that._

" _I don't know, but people say God is a he, so he must be a he. A medieval princess is a she so that he wouldn't look like one."_

" _There are so many things wrong with that statement. First, let's address the he part. According to the Bible, God is the creator of the universe, meaning that God creates life."_

" _Yes. I don't see what that has to do with he being a he." That doesn't mean that God has to be a female._

" _In the universe, the living beings that bring forth life are females. Females give birth; therefore, they create life, so if God has a gender, it would make more sense for God to be a she." Ok. That is a valid point, but that still doesn't mean that God isn't a male._

" _You are female, so of course you would think that God is a woman. Female empowerment and all of that." I said to her thinking that she is being biased because she is a woman._

" _Oooh. I don't believe that God is a female, either." Ok. Now I'm confused. What point is she trying to make? Unless, she is trying to say to say that God is an it._

" _That's not how it works! God has to be a he or a she. Can't be an it because an it is a thing, and God isn't a thing."_

" _I think that God is neither a she, a he, or an it. I think God is everything, and making God be into a defined someone is putting a restriction on a being that is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. God has no limitations. Therefore, God can be whatever God wants to be, and making God into something specific is a restriction. Humans like to put labels on everything."_

" _You have a thing against labels don't you."_

" _I'm only against what labels represent."_

" _What do labels represent?"_

" _Separation."_

" _Yeah. You were talking earlier about how someone can be multiple things and all of that. Anyway, no matter what God is, I still don't believe in it, or angels. Since you say that you are many different things to different people depending on their perspective, my perspective is that angel and demons don't exist. Therefore, you are a hallucination." I said to her, going back to my previous statement that she is a hallucination._

That time she told me that she is an angel, and I didn't pay any attention to it. But now that I know that angels exist, or existed, is it true? And, if angels are truly extinct, how can she be one? Except, Mystic didn't say that angels went extinct. She said they disappeared. Mystic is always very careful with her words. If she said that angels disappeared, it doesn't necessarily mean that they no longer exist. She could mean that angels went missing or ceased to be visible. Could that be the real reason why she didn't tell me about the disappearance of angels because it ties up with her origins? She also told me that she is a spirit because a spirit is a projection of a soul, and it could be either a living being or a dead one. If her visits are just projections of her soul or consciousness, and angels disappeared a few thousand years ago, does that mean that she is in reality dead? No, that can't be. Seraphine can't be that old, and she was in part created by Mystic. Plus, Seraphine talks about her Khalilah as a living person in present tense. Then, where is the real, living Mystic?

She said that a few thousand years had passed after the Soul Gem had been considered lost before Midoriko created the Shikon. She also said the original Living Gem died during the events that lead to the disappearance of the angels, which mean that she was born a few thousand years after the disappearance of the angels. The dates don't match. She can't be an angel or part angel unless she is and there is a vital piece of information missing that she hasn't told me yet. Also, the part about her being "an angel and a devil, divine and hellish, a contradiction and an impossibility" doesn't make sense. If she an angel, how can also be a devil? She did say that she is a contradiction and an impossibility. I'm even more confused now that when I didn't know anything about her. Though, apparently, I have known a lot about her since the beginning. She told me in our second meeting what she is, and I chose to ignore it in favor of looking for hard facts and evidence. The truth has been in front of me all this time, and I have refused to see it.

Fuck Fury. He is going to see me at 70% or 60% functional tomorrow because I'm going to finish that bottle of bourbon and try to process all of this. The pirate director is lucky that I'm not going to get completely plastered tonight, which I would have done if there wasn't for the fact that I'm going to be needed tomorrow to prevent a world ending catastrophe from happening, and I have to be functional to do that. I reaaally do need a break. When this whole thing is all over, I'm taking that vacation. Then, I realized that Mystic left without telling me how the Tesseract or in this case the Soul Gem is related to her supernatural appearance. Knowing her, she probably did it on purpose. Now I have another question to add to the growing number of questions I already have.

"Sir. Seraphine woke up, and she is trying to get access to one of the Mark suits." JARVIS said to me. It hasn't even been five minutes since Mystic left. Of course, I wasn't going to get any time to try to process everything Mystic told me. I'm probably lucky to get that one hour break when Seraphine fell asleep. I know how I'm going to be spending the rest of the night, though. I better go down to the lab and find a way to keep Seraphine distracted before she finds a way to start making things explode. I'm going to be lucky if I even get to start reading those files. How did all this craziness become my reality?

I sighed. "Put me on speaker with her," I replied to him.

"Seraphine, why …"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this story, I decided to expand the "Girl" origins. The story about it is going to be covered later on. In here, Mystic is purposely describing herself as an angel (which plays into her origins), and a devil (not just referring to her supernatural appearance). She isn't just referring to her demonic appearance but also to the fact that she considers herself to be also "devilish" in a way. In other words, she is still holy and good, but that is no longer all that she is. Her appearance isn't the only thing that was affected by the demonic changes.
> 
> The next chapter is going to be a new POV. Tony is going to be back, thought.


	32. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve's POV

**Steve Rogers - Thursday, May 3, 2012 – Night the Tesseract was Stolen – Brooklyn, New York**

* * *

 

I didn't want to go to sleep. The memories of everything that happened before the ice keep haunting me during my waking hours. If I close my eyes, I can see it all in vivid details. All the things that I lost, Bucky, Peggy, my whole life. Gone. Every day I wake up feeling lost. This world that I woke up to after losing seventy years isn't mine. Everything about it is strange and unfamiliar. The technology, the people, even the culture is so different from what I used to know.

Sometimes I feel like I am on an alien planet. I don't belong here. When I made the decision to crash the Valkyrie in the ocean, I made my peace with death. That was the end. My end. I wasn't supposed to survive. I wasn't supposed to wake up seventy years in the future and lose a lifetime in the process. Although, I lied to Director Fury when I said to him that didn't want to sleep because I had been to sleep for seventy years, and I already have it under my belt. Sleep would be a relief, a reprise from the memories and the strangeness of this time. The reason why I don't want to sleep is that I don't want to go to that other place, that fantasy reality with demons, fairy tale creatures, sentient swords, and people with unbelievable, amazing powers. Most importantly, I don't want to dream about her absence.

If the dreams had started recently, after I woke up from the ice, I would have thought that they were made up by my mind as a way to deal with the recent, abrupt changes I have found myself going through, a coping mechanism of sorts. The dreams; however, are not recent. I have been having them since I was injected with the serum. The serum was only supposed to enhance every physical aspect of my person. I think that it also did something else, though. It did something to my mind that it wasn't supposed to do.

At first, I thought nothing of it. The dreams weren't recurrent enough to warrant any worries. Though that changed as more time went by, and the interval between dreams started to shorten from every few weeks to every other week, and then to every week and so forth. It continued to happen more frequently and to the point that a few weeks before my crash in the ice, I was having the dreams every night. There isn't any pattern in the dreams except her. She is the one constant. At least, that's how it always was up until recently. She was always there.

All of the dreams involved a scene related to her. I could only see others when they were interacting with her in one way or another. In the dreams, I see some people more frequently than others. A woman in a black leather jumpsuit outfit who is always carrying a giant boomerang made of bone taller than her. A monk in a purple Budhish outfit with black prayer beads wrapped around the palm of his left hand. A kid with orange hair and green eyes with dog legs and pointy elf ears. Those are the people that appear more frequently. There are also others that appear from time to time. A tall man dressed in a white Japanese outfit with long white hair, pointy elf ears, a crescent blue moon in his forehead, and only one arm. A green toad-like creature that is about three feet tall and is always following the man with the white hair, and a little girl child with black hair that's about eight years old and wears a kimono with yellow flowers.

The serum gave me a perfect photographic memory. This being the reason why I can recall my memories and see them when I'm awake. It also means that I also recall every detail of my dreams. It doesn't help that they are so much more vivid than regular dreams. Like memories. In the dreams, I'm wearing a strange red outfit, I have long white hair like the tall man, and my fingernails are long, sharp and pointy like claws. I'm always that same person. In most of the dreams, I have a large sword and always using it to fight one of those fantasy creatures. The two girls, the monk, the orange haired kid, and I seem to be part of a group because they always fight alongside me.

The girl is beautiful with long raven black hair and Asian features. She has a heart shape face, is always happy and smiling, and she is very young, maybe sixteen or seventeen years old at most. I remember filling up an entire sketchbook with drawings of her. I also remember the feeling that I get in my dream when I'm in her presence. I felt lighter and filled with a sense of peace and happiness. She is like a sun, warm and radiant. Also, just like with the sun, I seemed to gravitate around her. I remember waking up from one dream the day before I crashed into the ice. She was sitting under a tree talking to the other girl, and I was looking at her with sadness. I woke up feeling like a moth. I was being pulled in by her brightness, and I knew I was going to get burned, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. The feeling was so intense that I had to sit on the bed and spend a few minutes taking deep breaths to calm myself. So far, I haven't had any intimate dreams with her. I haven't even kissed her, but I don't want to imagine how bad things would be for me if it were to start happening. The last thing that I need right now is to wake up sexually frustrated every day in addition to this feeling of unrest that I feel now. Having to feel these intense and confusing emotions is bad enough.

In the past, Peggy and Bucky were the ones that kept me grounded. She and Bucky were the reason why I was able to live normally every day. Bucky kept me anchored to reality and holding on to my fascination with Peggy allowed me to avoid thinking about the girl. The fact that Peggy's personality was like hers only contributed to that. They were both brave and strong and had that same fire and stubborn, unmovable determination. If I focused on Peggy, I could ignore the fact that I was and still am completely obsessed and probably also in love with a girl that doesn't even exist.

Everything changed two days ago when she stopped appearing in my dreams. I remember the last time I saw her; we finally defeated that demon creature that we had been chasing and fighting ever since I started having the dreams. I used the power of my sword to open a portal and went through it to go look for her after one of the demon's minion created a black portal that took her away. I remember finding her after arguing with the demons inside it. They were telling me that she was born to be part of that Jewel which fragments we were always trying to collect. I told them that she was born because she was destined to meet me. At that point, I was able to reach her, and she was able to destroy the Jewel. When we came out of the black void where she was being kept, we were transported back to her home, and I was enveloped in a white light and forced back to the place I came from. The last thing I saw before being taken back was she hugging her mother, happy to be reunited with her family, then her turning back around to look at me, and her startled expression when she saw the white light that was enveloping me and taking me to my time. I woke up that morning feeling like I had lost the most important thing in my life.

The night after that, I dreamt that I was wandering aimlessly around the little town the group and I used to visit. The monk Miroku asked me about her. I told him that she was safe and back with her family and with people that cared for her and needed her. That's the reason why I don't want to sleep, because as much as I dislike my current situation, the strangeness of all of this, at least it's all real. The people and the time that I lost were real. To also feel so strongly the loss of something that I never had, her, and another me in a strange world and time, of all of those things that aren't real, is unbearable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. This means what you think it means. "In the dreams, I'm wearing a strange red outfit, I have long white hair like the tall man, and my fingernails are long, sharp and pointy like claws. I'm always that same person. In most of the dreams, I have a large sword and always using it to fight one of those fantasy creatures." Steve is the reincarnation of a certain main character from the Inuyasha's Series. As you read a few chapters back, "Mystic" mentioned to Tony that he died in front of her. Now, we know what happened with him after that.
> 
> Now you must be thinking something along the lines of:
> 
> If he has been reincarnated, does that mean that the others have as well?
> 
> I will tell you that I did include Natasha's POV for a reason even though I could have easily left it out because it wasn't really important to this story. So, yes, I included it as a way to let you know that the character is a major player in the story. Except for Nick Fury's POV, which was there to introduce the story and the plot, all the POV's for everyone else are because that person is a main character who in this story is a fusion of both crossovers, which means that the person plays a role on both the Inuyasha Series and the Marvel Universe. It's perfectly obvious that there must be a really good reason why "Mystic" projects her consciousness/soul to Tony, which "Mystic," who we now know the real identity of, hasn't told Tony about. Though, she hinted at it in the flashback on their second meeting when Tony asked her, if he agrees with her that she isn't a hallucination, would she go away? Her answer was, "I can leave now, but I will be back. I found you, and I won't leave after so many years of waiting." There is a lot more going on with the connection Mystic and Tony have that she hasn't told Tony about. We know from the Inuyasha Series that it takes a few centuries for a person to be reincarnated.
> 
> If "Mystic" knew about the possibility of the people from the original group from Inuyasha being reincarnated, then it's possible that she has or has found a way of locating their reincarnations or at least some of them. After her transformation, she would have had the time to find a way to do it. Since her transformation would have extended her lifespan, she would be able to meet their reincarnations even if a few centuries have passed. If one knows about that little piece of information, then, the reason for the connection between Tony and Mystic makes a lot of sense, especially if one takes into consideration how happy "Mystic" was when she met Tony, the immediate fondness she shows towards him, and the strong emotional attachment that is evident in there from the very beginning. Granted that there is a lot more going on to their connection than just that, but that would be the main reason why Mystic would be so happy to have "found" him after "so many years of waiting." She had waited a long time, a few centuries, to meet Tony.
> 
> Though, the "connection" between each member of the group seems to be different from person to person. Steve is having "dreams" of the past but isn't being visited by Mystic. Tony can see a projection of Mystic's consciousness but doesn't have dreams about the past. Mystic apparently only projects herself to Tony because Natasha has neither the dreams nor the visits from Mystic.


	33. "Not From Around Here"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury informs Steve about the Loki and the Tesseract.

Tonight, I was determined to stay awake. I went to the gymnasium that was a block from the apartment S.H.I.E.L.D provided for me to stay at. The owner is a Vietnam War veteran with connections with S.H.I.E.L.D. that grew up hearing stories about me. He had enough clearance to know that S.H.I.E.L.D. found Captain America frozen in Alaska, that he is alive, and his presence in New York is being kept a secret by S.H.I.E.L.D. He figured out who I am after I visited the gym a few times. The destroyed gym punching bags may have given me away. He and I became acquaintances after that. I sometimes talk with him about how things used to be back when I grew up, and I trade war stories with him. He lets me stay as late as I want in the gym and, thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D., I get to destroy as many punching bags as I want.

I was determined to take all of my anger and frustration on the punching bags tonight. I had managed to block all thought of the dreams, but I couldn't stop myself from being hit by a wave of flashbacks of all the events that happened those last few weeks previous to my crash on the ice.

I was in the process of pounding a new bag when I was stopped by Director's Fury voice "trouble sleeping?" He asked me. He was standing by the room's entrance and started walking towards me.

"I slept for seventy years. Sir. I think that I got that under my belt." I said to him while I continued to punch the bag.

"Then you need to be out. Celebrating. Seeing the world." He said. I stopped pounding the punching bag to look at him for a moment and walked to a bench where I had placed a small carrying bag with clothes. I was in the process of unwrapping the bindings that I had wrapped around my knuckles to protect them from cutting them with the leather of the punching bags when I said to him "I went under, they say we won, but they didn't say what we lost."

"We made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently."

"Do you have a mission? Sir."

"I have."

"Trying to get me back in the world?"

"Trying to save it," He said, opening a folder that he had in his hands when he came in, and showed it to me. I stopped unwrapping the bindings around my knuckles, took the folder, and sat on the bench.

The first page contained a picture of the Tesseract. "Howard Stark fished it out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think. The Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world needs." He said to me while I looked through the pages which contained information on the Tesseract.

"Who took it from you?" I asked him and gave him back the file.

"He is called Loki. He is…. not from around here. There is a lot we have to get you up to speed too if you are in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

"At this point, I doubt that anything would surprise me," I said to him while I stood up and packed up my stuff. I walked in the direction where I had placed a few punching bags lined up on the floor, picked up one of them so I could carry it up to the apartment with me, and turned to leave the room.

"Ten bucks says you are wrong. There is a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment. Is there anything that you could tell us about the Tesseract that we out to know now?" He said while I was walking in the direction of the exit.

"You should have left it in the ocean," I answered him as I continued walking out of the room.

I installed a hook attached to the ceiling in my apartment the next day after I woke up from my sleep on the ice. The day when I woke up, I was too distracted looking around at everything, being introduced to all the new things and the technology, and trying to figure out how they work, so the pain of the loss didn't settle in yet. The next day I didn't have such luck. I woke up in the apartment, and after doing my morning routine, I went to open the refrigerator to look for food when I was suddenly hit with it. When I went to the refrigerator, I was expecting it to be almost empty. I expected to have to scramble for enough ingredients to be able to put together a meal the same way that I used to back in my time when food was scarce. The refrigerator was full, and that's when I truly came to realized what it meant for me to be in the future. I am completely alone in a place where everything that I knew is different, gone. I was so shocked that I closed the door to the refrigerator, took a few steps back until my back hit the wall behind me, slid to the floor, and sat there on the floor for close to one hour feeling a tightness in my chest which had me struggling to breathe.

The sensation was an irrational and rather familiar feeling, which was reminiscent of an asthma attack. It was familiar because I used to experience it frequently in the past before the serum when I was still weak and skinny, and my body was constantly trying to give out on me. It was also irrational because now I have a strong, healthy body, and I can't get asthma attacks anymore. Later on, after a visit from the psychologist S.H.I.E.L.D. assigned to me to help me with the incorporation into modern society, I learned that what I experienced is called an anxiety attack. According to Dr. Garner, this was an effect of the abrupt life changes I'm experiencing now and some of the experiences I had gone through during the war before I went on the ice. He asked me after a few more visits if I had another episode. I told him no, which is true, and he smiled and told me that I'm adjusting well to the abrupt changes, which I think is a big lie because I don't feel that "I'm adjusting well" at all. I feel more like I'm a fish out of the water. I didn't say that to him, though.

After I had managed to calm down from the anxiety attack and got up from the floor, I spent the next few hours that day wondering around the apartment, thinking about too many things, or trying to read, and failing to be able to concentrate on anything else other than my inner turmoil. That's when I called Director Fury and asked him for directions to the nearest gym and hardware store. I also asked him to provide me with punching bags. That is part of how I spend my days now. I get out of the apartment and visit a coffee shop and some businesses around the area to try to expose myself and acclimate to my new environment. Although, I can only stay out for a few hours before I get too overwhelmed by all the new things, and I have to go back to the apartment. The rest of the day I spend it mostly in the gym. Tonight, I'm going to have something else to entertain myself with other than a punching bag. True to the Director's words, there was a folder with information about Loki and the Tesseract on my dining room table when I got back to my apartment. This is something that is familiar, I have a purpose again, for tonight at least.


	34. "Demonic Instinct"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve meets Natasha and Bruce.

I called Fury at dawn and told him I was in. He said that he was sending a car to pick me up to take me to a jet that would get me to the location of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s moving base of operations. I was introduced to Agent Coulson when I arrived at the Jet, and he gave me an electronic device with a transparent screen that projects images like a television. He showed me how to use it and went to sit on another bench facing the wall that was across from me where there was a panel with coordinates that he was examining.

Doctor's Banner transformation caught my attention. "So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" I asked him.

"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner though that gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."

"Didn't really go his way, did it?"

"Not so much. When he is not that thing though, the guy is like a Steven Hawkins."

I stared at Coulson when he mentioned man's name because I don't know who he is. "He is like a smart person." He said. He paused for a moment and continued talking, "I got to say. It's an honor to meet you. Officially. I sort of knew you. I watched you while you were sleeping. I mean, I was present while you were unconscious on the ice. You know it's just …. It's just a really huge honor to have you onboard." He said awkwardly to me.

"I hope that I'm the man for the job."

"You are. Absolutely! We made some modifications to the uniform. I have a little… design input."

"Aren't the stars and stripes a little old fashion?" I would have thought they would have changed my Captain America uniform now.

"With everything that is happening, the things that are about to come to light, People might just... need a little old fashion." He said and when back to sit down by the panel.

"Director Fury is going to be waiting for you," Coulson said to me when we were exiting the jet once we arrived at an aircraft carrier.

A stunning, short woman with short, wavy red hair; and a curvy, hourglass figure approached us. "Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers." Agent Coulson said introducing the newcomer and me. For a few seconds, I was looking at her, and a mental image of another woman came to my mind. A warrior demon slayer in black skin thigh leather suit; with the fierceness, beauty, and grace of a Bengal tiger; and a personality made of fire, and steel. At that moment, I knew that though Agent Romanoff may look deceptively harmless, she would be just as dangerous, and deathly like the warrior woman from my dreams. The realization should have put me on guard and made me wary. This woman in front of me is really dangerous. Instead, I was feeling calm and relaxed, content.

I was feeling a sense of closeness and familiarity that comes from knowing someone for years. Similar to the warm and content feeling I feel around the girl from my dreams, but less intense than the one I felt with her. I remember feeling like this when I met Bucky as well, except that the feeling with Bucky was stronger, still not as strong as with the Girl, but stronger than what I was feeling at the moment. That's the reason why Bucky and I were so close from the beginning. The feeling that both of us got during our first meeting as if we have known each other our whole life, only grew as time when by. By the time we both reached our twenties, that sense of connection was so strong that it felt as it was a gravitational pull. It felt as if my world revolved around him much like with the girl from my dreams. I started to feel sexually attracted to him when I hit my teens. That's when I discovered that I was harboring a lot more than just platonic friendship related feelings towards my best friend. I can't pinpoint the exact moment when I started to fall in love with him. I only know that by the time I discovered it, it had already happened.

The confusing part was that I was attracted to women, but he is the only man I have ever felt attracted to. I never acted on those feelings. If Bucky felt the same way, he never showed it. There were a few times when he was looking at me, and for the briefest of a moment, I could almost swear I saw a heated look on his face. A longing in his eyes, that didn't belong to just friends, but the moment would pass too quickly. His face would morph back to displaying that all too familiar friendly grin, and I would be left thinking that I must have imagined it. He never made any indication that he might feel something more towards me other than a close friendship, so I stayed silent and tried with all my will to bury my feelings. I wasn't just afraid of being rejected by him. I was scared that he would discover my feelings for him, and he might be disgusted, and not want to be around me anymore. Just thinking about the possibility of losing our friendship made me panic. If he were to have shown an indication that he felt something similar for me, I would have taken the chance and pursue a relationship with him without any care about how illicit it was at the time.

My feelings and the sense of connection only intensified when I was injected with the serum. After that, I also started to have those strange dreams. I also felt something more when I was around Bucky. Something primal that said pack, family, mine. As if the person that I was in my dreams had somehow transferred that demonic, darker side of his personality on to me. That possessive and overprotective demonic instinct that drove me to protect my pack with vicious ferocity and at all cost. My feelings towards Bucky and the crushing anguish and despair I felt with Bucky's fall was the main reason why I chose to go down with the Valkyrie instead of aiming it towards the ground and jumping out of the plane using one of the parachutes which were in it. After Bucky's fall, my anger towards Hydra for being responsible for his death was the only reason why I kept fighting. I needed to crush the organization, avenge his death, and make sure that what happened to him never happened again to anyone else. Once I accomplished it, there was no more motivation for me to continue on. I wanted to die. I was supposed to die.

In addition to the sensation of connection, closeness, and familiarity; that primal possessive and protective response that I used to feel with Bucky and in my dreams with the Girl and the rest of my pack is what I was feeling as Agent Romanoff approached me. My instincts are saying pack, family, comfort, contentment, mine.

"Hi," she said casually to me. To Agent Coulson, she said, "We need you on the bridge, they are starting phase three."

"See you there," Coulson said and walked away.

When I was left alone with Agent Romanoff, we started walking away from the Jet. She said to me, "there was quite the buzz around here, finding you on the ice. I thought Coulson was going to swoon. Did he asked you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?" I asked her just as casually. I wasn't feeling awkward or nervous as I normally would be when I meet a gorgeous dame because the pull of the connection l felt with her is making me feel as if I have known her my whole life.

"They are vintage. He is very proud." She replied.

I saw a middle-aged man with glasses wearing a business suit about twenty feet from where we were standing. He was looking lost and out of place among all the military people walking around completing their assigned tasks. I recognized him as Doctor Banner.

"Doctor Banner," I called him, trying to get his attention while I was walking towards him.

He walked in my direction, and I extended my hand to him to greet him." "Ooh yeah. Captain Rogers. They told me you were coming." He said to me while we were shaking hands.

"Word is that you can find the Cube," I said to him.

"Is that… the only word on me?" He asked me while he moved his head from one side to the other looking unease as if he was checking the people around us and expecting someone to jump him any second.

"That's the only word I care about," I told him.

"Must be …. strange for you. All of this." He said while checking our surroundings again.

"Well.. this is actually kind of familiar," I replied to him as we started walking again in the same direction as before.

Agent Romanoff approached us. "Gentlemen you need to step inside. It's going to become a little hard to breathe." She said first looking at Banner and next to me.

At that moment, we heard someone speaking over a speaker, "all personnel in position," and the sound of machinery moving.

Banner and I started looking around. "Is this a submarine?" I asked.

Banner and I approached the edge of the carrier while he asked with a little sarcastic smirk., "really. They want me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?"

We looked down, and I realized that what was coming from the water was actually an airplane turbine, and the carrier is starting to lift up. "Ooh no. This is much worse." He said with the same little smirk he used with his previous statement.

After that, we walked to the inside of the carrier. Agent Romanoff took both of us to the main control room where Director Fury was waiting for us. I walked on the bridge looking around in wonderment. The Director approached me. I took a ten dollars bill out of my pocket, gave it to him, and continued walking forward in the main bridge while Director Fury approached and greeted Doctor Banner.

I heard Doctor Banner ask the Director for how long is he staying onboard.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you are in the wind."

"Where are you with that?" Doctor Banner asked, and the director pointed at Coulson. "We are sweeping every available wireless camera on the planet, cell phones, laptops…. If it is connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." Coulson replied.

Agent Romanoff, who had been squatting on the floor by the edge of the bridge's platform and looking at the picture of a man in a computer monitor said, "that is still not gonna find them in time."

"You have to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Doctor Banner asked the Director.

"How many are there?" The Director replied.

"Call every lab you know. Tell them to put their spectrometers in the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Doctor Banner said while he was taking out his jacket, folding it over one arm, and rolling up his shirt sleeve.

"Agent Romanoff, show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please." The Director said to her.

She approached Banner, "right this way. Doctor." She said to him gesturing with her hand and starting walking towards one of the corridors exiting the bridge.

I had been aboard the Helicarrier for a little over an hour when the Agents located Loki. The "Helicarrier" is what Director Fury called the flying aircraft carrier that we were onboard of. Agent Coulson was asking me to sign his trading cards when one of the Agents announced he found the Alien. "If is not too much trouble," He said.

"No is not," I replied to him.

"Is a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint. Slight fussing around the edges, but otherwise in really good condition." He was saying to me when one of the Agents announced that they had found him.

"I got a hit. 67% match, wait.. cross match, 79%." The Agent said.

"Where?" Director Fury asked.

"He is in Germany, 26th Hains. He is not exactly hiding." The agent replied.

"Captain. You are up," The Director said to me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got time to finish this chapter. So, Bucky and Steve, and that connection/sense of closeness he felt when they met each other, and now he meets Natasha, and it's the same thing. I did say the relationships in this story are on the side of complicated. I'm posting the next chapter sometime during the rest of this week to make up for not posting anything last week.
> 
> Now we know Bucky is another member of the group. We learned that there is a weird type of connection/pull that at least some of the members of the group feel whenever they meet another member of the group and that this connection gets stronger with time, which now explains Tony's growing obsession with "Mystic." We previously found out that the connection affects each of them slightly differently and that it varies in intensity with each member. We also got to see here how is it that the people from the group who have their memories can recognize who is the reincarnation of who, and that as previously seen not all of them have access to their memories.
> 
> I'm going to go ahead and give you a little spoil and tell you that this connection/pull is attached to the souls of each member of the group. So, the "connection" between the members of the group doesn't follow any of the normal or traditional rules that apply to relationships. For those of you thinking, Bucky and Steve? What the heck? I did warn you about polyamory themes on this story way back before the subject of reincarnations and God were introduced in the story. Also, now it has been revealed that the serum gave Steve his previous memories, but it also gave him his previous incarnation's demonic instincts. What is going on with that?
> 
> Also, in the case of Steve and Bucky. Steve stated that Bucky is the only man that he has ever felt attracted to, so we can deduct that this is something that carries with the individual carriying the soul and not with his or hers gender. What would that make his orientation be? Bisexual? Demisexual? Pansexual? I would say that he is demisexual, but he said that he is attracted to women so he can't be only demisexual. I think he is heterosexual and demisexual. Is that possible? Ooh well. I did say that the relationships between the characters in this story are complicated and don't follow conventional rules.
> 
> Also, don't expect this "connection" to be all fluffy and about rainbows and all things nice. For most of the people from the group, this has been a source of a lot of anguish, sorrow, and pain. We have seen some glimpses of that when Bucky fell from the train, how Steve felt his loss, and how he feels now being alive in the present. There is a good reason why "Mystic" has said to Tony that there could never be anything more than a close friendship between them. They are not going to go and have an orgy, start a polyamorous relationship with everyone, and live happily ever after.


	35. Tony Stark - "I Completely Forgot that you Aren't Human and Probably Don't Understand Sarcasm."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Seraphine are on their way to capture Loki.

Seraphine woke up no less than five minutes after Mystic left. Apparently, JARVIS started playing party music through the speakers and putting music videos in the monitors of people dancing to try to distract her in an attempt to keep her attention away from the suits. When I arrived at the lab, music was blasting through the speakers, the holographic tables were projecting people doing a dance choreography, the monitors were playing different music videos of people dancing, and the Mark suit and Seraphine were hovering in the air and dancing the Macarena.

I was looking at the scene in front of me in a mixture of surprise, disbelieve, amusement, and horror. Seraphine was dancing. The suit looked like it was trying to follow along and managing to do jerky movements that resemble someone trying to dance while having seizures. I would have found the whole scene hilarious if it wasn't for the fact that I was so surprised by it.

If Rhodey or Pepper get a word of this, I'm never going to hear the end of it. Good thing that Mystic left because she would be howling with laughter right now. Correction, Pepper is going to tell me something about being irresponsible while looking at me with her disappointed face. She would think that I had instigated the whole thing in some way, and it was my fault somehow even if I didn't have anything to do with it. Rhodey is probably going to be too busy laughing his ass off to say anything to me about it for a few minutes.

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked her after about a minute when I was able to get over my shocked surprise. I have decided that I'm not going to try to mince my words or try to censor myself around her. Seraphine may be a kid, but she is intelligent enough to make a room full of grown up geniuses look like a bunch of fools if she wants too. Talking to her as if she were any other normal child and trying to handle her with silk globes is a great insult to that amazing mind of hers. This doesn't mean that I'm not mindful of her age, but I would be making a great disservice to her if I behave around her as if he were a normal child. In a lot of ways, she is more capable than most adults.

"I found music and dancing to be entertaining, but I didn't want to dance alone. I asked JARVIS to be my dance partner, but he said he doesn't have a physical body. I suggested to him that he could use one of the Mark suits. He needs to work on his coordination, though. This is fun. Do you want to dance with me?"

"JARVIS, buddy, you and I are going to talk about this later. Now, turn down the music, return the monitors and the holographic projectors to normal, and put the Mark suit back in its place. " I said to him.

"Ok, Sir," was the AI's only reply while everything was going back to normal.

"Don't be angry at him. He was trying to keep me from playing with the Mark suits. I told him that if he takes control of one of the suits and dance with me, I wouldn't touch them." Seraphine said trying to keep JARVIS from getting in trouble.

I sighed exasperatedly. Of course, she would find ways to manipulate JARVIS without changing his programming. She didn't seem happy about losing her dance partner and the music turning off, but she didn't voice any complaints. My guess is that she thinks that I would blame JARVIS for it. She didn't want him to get into more trouble with me.

"Ok. Fine. I wanted to ask for your help studying the files Coulson brought me. The files with Dr. Selvig's notes are studies of the Tesseract about Thelmal Nuclear Physics. I could use a study partner on the subject and someone to bounce ideas with. Reading by myself is boring." I told her, going with the idea I came up with when I was on my way to the lab to keep her distracted, and it isn't like I'm lying to her anyway. I could use the company.

"Ok." She said smiling and immediately forgetting that she is supposed to be angry at me for keeping her from dancing.

I wonder if her contented attitude is because I asked for something without having any selfish motivation behind it other than wanting her company. I sadly understand that because I remember being that age and being so happy anytime someone showed any kind of sincere interest in me for myself and not because they were trying to get some sort of self-serving gain out of it. I was so starved for any kind of sincere attention, which thinking back was the reason why I didn't care that I thought Mystic was a hallucination for as long as she continued to visit me. The first time I met her, that was the reason why I tried to grab her clothing to try to keep her from leaving. She looked so genuinely happy to see me that day that I didn't want for her to go. During our second meeting, I told her that I would keep her and agreed so easily not to tell my parents I was seeing her because they would have put me on medication, and I would stop seeing her and go back to being alone again. She is one of a really small amount of people who genuinely want to be around me without any greedy or self-serving motivation behind it, just because she likes my company.

The rest of the night the two of us spent it talking back and forth, exchanging ideas, learning Thermal Physics and about the scientific applications of the Tesseract's energy while I read the notes and the files. Director Fury called me around ten in the morning.

"Stark we have Loki's location, and I need you to provide backup for Captain Rogers. We still haven't located the Tesseract and need to apprehend Loki to see if he tells us its location." He said to me as soon as I pick up the call.

"Hello to you too Director. How have you been? I have a very eventful night thanks for asking me. From what I read in the file you sent me, you found the good captain frozen in Alaska. How is he adapting? Old people and technology don't get along well you know."

"Stark. Don't tell me you have trouble keeping up with Seraphine. I thought you would have enjoyed the challenge. Now you know how dealing with you feels like. Stop the smart-ass comments. I have a crazy god on the loose and a weapon with unlimited power to locate. I don't have time for your sarcasm right now."

"Ok. Fine. I'm in. You know I do enjoy challenges. It's not my fault you have no appreciation for my sense of humor and my amazing genius personality. You are just bitter because out of the Avengers Seraphine chose to meet me in person instead of choosing to meet captain apple pie and freedom. It's not my fault that I'm the cooler Avenger. You need to learn how to relax."

"You are an overgrown brat with an ego the size of the U.S. and I will relax when I'm dead. I'm going to have Coulson send Loki's location to your phone. Be there as soon as you can. We don't know how long Loki is going to stay put. Don't forget to bring Seraphine with you, and remind her about what we agreed on about her staying hidden. Tell her not to get involved in a fight with Loki unless completely necessary. We need to keep some element of surprise if we are planning on gaining some advantage in this." Fury said to me and then hung up.

The man really doesn't have any appreciation for my wonderful genius personality. I told Jarvis to notify Seraphine that it's time for us to go, told him to relay the message Fury told me, that Loki had been located, and we are going to his location to capture him instead of going directly to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base.

A few seconds later I heard Seraphine's voice. "I can do that, but I don't like that the rest of the Avengers are going to be fighting Loki, and I have to keep hidden."

"Sorry, Kiddo. I know that you don't like being left out, but the pirate is right about it being an advantage for us if Loki doesn't know that you are awake."

"Can I integrate myself into the Mark suit? That way I will be able to provide you with my assistance while I stay hidden."

I thought about that before, but I was too busy last night to ask her about how she would interact with technology like the iron man suit. "How would that work? Would you integrate with the armor itself or with the system?"

"I can do both. I won't be able to create energy barriers to keep you from getting hit because Loki has seemed me use that power and is going to realize it's me. I can use my body to strengthen the suit's structure, though. My body can resist direct attacks from Loki's spear and other significant impacts without receiving any damage. If the suit gets damaged, I can use my body to strengthen the damaged parts and at the same time repair some of the structural damage. I won't be able to cover the whole armor, though." She said.

"Ok. I'm fine with that for as long as you don't try to hijack JARVIS and take control of the suit." I said to her. I was eager to see how she would integrate like that with the Mark suit. Plus, a self-repair ability and resistance to Loki's spear beams sound really cool."

"Deal. I will just talk with you like we are now, and not take control over JARVIS or the suit's system." She said levitating into the room.

"JARVIS, prepare the Mark suit for deployment."

"Right away, Sir." He said, and I walked over to where I keep the suit.

After I was encased inside the suit, I said to Seraphine, "ready when you are, kiddo." She melted, and the liquid metal drops started to get into the little crevices of the suit.

"I don't feel or see any differences," I said after about a minute while looking at my reflection in the window and moving around.

"You are not supposed to," She said to me from inside the suit.

"So what did you do exactly?"

"I integrated myself with the suit's system and the armor's inner layer."

"JARVIS how are the suit's systems?"

"All systems are working at 100% capacity. Seraphine's incorporation into the suit system isn't interfering with any of its function, Sir."

"See. I told you that I wouldn't interfere with JARVIS or any of the suit's systems."

"Ok. Let's get going. JARVIS Coulson sent me Loki's location to my cell phone, set the course to those coordinates."

"Setting course now, Sir."

"He is in Stuttgart, Germany. I learned the history of the country when I was in the Quinjet. The conflict involving the Nazi's, the Holocaust, and world war II is known as the deadliest conflict in human history. Hydra used the Tesseract to power their weapons. Captain Rogers was involved in that war and was directly responsible for the fall of Hydra. Loki must know about the Avengers. Agent Barton had access to that information, and he must have told Loki about it. This can be a deliberate move on his part to draw the team out." Seraphine said.

"You are right about that. Out of all the places in the world he chose Germany. He could have appeared in any place. This could be his way of saying that he can get to us, and he doesn't need to hide. According to what I read about this guy, he is known as the lie-smith. He is the god of lies and mischief. I wouldn't be surprised if he is in there to send a message and is playing with us."

"JARVIS get me the Director on the line."

"It's too soon for you to tell me that you have captured Loki already, so what's the problem?" The pirate said going straight to the point as soon as he picked up the call.

"Seraphine and I were discussing as to why Loki could have chosen to let himself be seen in Germany of all places."

"Why? Please enlight me."

"He must know about the Avengers and all of the members including the fact that Rogers was discovered and is part of the team. The man is known as the god of lies and mischief; playing games is his specialty. Seraphine says that Barton had access to the Avenger's files before he was brainwashed into being a lab dog for Loki, and he would have told Loki about each of us. This could be a deliberate move on his part to let us know that he knows about all the players in the game, and he can take us all out. He is playing us, drawing us into the open."

"I suspected as much, but we don't have any choice but to play his game. We need to locate the Tesseract, and Loki is the one that knows where it is."

"So, you knew about this, and you send us after him, even when you know this is most probably a trap."

"If I did tell you, it wouldn't have made any difference. The team needs to capture Loki, and the Tesseract is still missing."

"Why is it that this kind of shit coming from you doesn't surprise me? I have never known you for being straight about giving information. Is there anything else we should know?"

"I'm as much in the dark about Loki's motives as you are. If I knew about anything else, I would have told the team about it. I sent Rogers and Romanoff to capture Loki. He and Romanoff are not going to be able to do that on their own."

"Yeah. I know. I'm almost there. Next time, I expect to get the warning that comes with the possibility of walking into a trap." I said to him and hung up without waiting for his answer.

"He is a two-faced lying liar. He probably knows more about Loki's motives, and he doesn't want to tell us. It would have been good to know that Loki knows about all the Avengers. He could have warned us that we may be walking into a trap."

"He is the Director of an Intelligence organization. Keeping information and secrets is to be expected from him." Seraphine said not showing any surprise or anger over the fact that Fury is keeping important information from us.

I realized then, that what the pirate is keeping is about Mystic and Seraphine knows about it and doesn't want to confirm it. I understand that she would want to protect Mystic. Based on what Mystic was telling me, she is doing the same with Seraphine. I understand that Seraphine wouldn't want to tell me about Mystic. She isn't aware of the fact that I know Mystic and would want to keep Mystic's identity secret. I wonder how much the Director knows about Mystic. Probably not much.

"Can I access surveillance cameras around the area Loki is in?" Seraphine asked me.

"I didn't know you could do that."

"I'm connected to the internet through JARVIS, so I have access to every computer on the planet that has a connection to the internet and any electronic device on the planet connected to a network including satellites."

"Does Fury know about that?" I said to her worried about what the pirate would do if he knows about that.

"He knows that I can interact with technology and control it, but he doesn't know about the extent of my ability and that I can control technology remotely. He thinks that I need to have a physical connection to control a system. He knows that I can access computers connected to the internet, though."

"Ok. Don't tell him or anyone else for that matter that you can control any computer and electronic device on the planet that is connected to the web."

"Ok. Thank you." She said.

"Why are you saying thank you?"

"Because you are worried about me and are trying to look out for me."

"Well, we are friends, that's what friends do. I mean, I think we are friends, aren't we?" I said to her.

"Of course we are." She said cheerfully, and I smiled.

"You said that you can see what Loki is doing now, right."

"Right."

"Let's see what the crazy alien is up too. Maybe, we can spot what's his game."

"I'm scanning the faces of the people in the vicinity of his coordinates and looking for suspicious patterns." She said and showed me a video of Loki wearing civilian clothing, sitting outside a café, and eating a pastry. The video looks like is being taken from the street across the café he is sitting outside of.

"You know the fact that Loki is casually sitting outside a café in plain view of anyone isn't suspicious at all." It's clear as day that the man is up to something.

"So, did you find anything else other than Loki and his totally inconspicuous behavior."

"Inconspicuous? I think he is trying to draw S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention by being out in the open."

"Right. I completely forgot that you aren't human and don't understand sarcasm. I was being sarcastic when I said that he is being inconspicuous. It's obvious that the man is planning something nefarious. I need to teach you a lot of stuff."

"I see. I have some trouble understanding some human expressions and behaviors."

"Don't worry. You just need a little bit of time. You will get them after a little while. If you stay with me for a while, you are going to learn and understand sarcasm really fast." I said to her reassuringly.

"I would like that. Though, I didn't find any suspicious activity around Loki's location." She replied.

She showed me an live aerial view of the café and the whole block panning on the rooftop of all the buildings in the next few blocks and the civilians around the man.

"The rooftops within 1 ½ miles are clear, and the civilians are not showing any suspicious behavioral patterns."

"Maybe the people are inside the café or in another building nearby."

"These are the images of every building with cameras within the next five blocks. I don't see any suspicious activities inside either." She said and showed me a lot of little screens of the inside of the buildings.

"Zoom in on the screen inside the café. There has to be something. He is clearly planning something."

"Maybe a group is coming, later. Can you keep a look out on the other surveillance?" I asked her.

"Yes. I'm using the Stark's tower computers to keep the surveillance in the area."

"Ok. He is bound to make a move eventually."

After another ten minutes, Loki got up from the table and started a luxury stroll looking around and stopping from time to time to enjoy the sights like a tourist.

"What the fuck is he planning? He hasn't talked to anybody or called anyone this whole time, and there is no suspicious activity anywhere near him." I said frustrated when we were about Fifteen minutes to Loki's location, and the man hasn't done anything yet other than walking around.

"Maybe we shouldn't have tried to focus all our attention on Loki," Seraphine said.

"I'm an idiot. How couldn't I see it before? Loki has been in the open drawing attention to himself for a few hours now. He is obviously playing distraction. Seraphine can you adjust the parameters to scan for Barton's facial features." I said, angry at myself for not realizing it before.

"If I don't have an estimated location, the scan is going to take me at least thirty minutes, and we are almost at Loki's location."

"Fuck. Loki has been taking his stroll for at least three hours. By now, whatever he has planned is already done or already happening."

After few minutes I heard a beeping sound. "It looks like Loki made his move. He is attacking a civilian." Seraphine said and pulled up the footage.

"Damned it. What the hell is he doing to that man?" I said grossed out as I watched Loki put some sort of handheld device that was drilling into a man's eye.

"He is…" Seraphine started saying, but I interrupted her. "No. You know what? I don't want to know. How far are we from there?"

"At your current speed, You will arrive in eight minutes. Sir." JARVIS answered.

"Make it faster, JARVIS, and from here on can you make it so the conversation between Seraphine and me isn't heard by anyone else other than us? We can't have the others hearing a conversation between Seraphine and I if we are planning on keeping her hidden."

"Consider it done, Sir. The conversations between you and Seraphine will remain private. I'm increasing thrusters capacity now."

"Time for our entrance. Seraphine, play AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill," can you patch me up to Agent's Romanoff's comms. unit, please? Also, feel free to play with the Quinjet's speakers while you are at it."

"Ok." She replied, and I heard the song I requested playing on the speakers of the Quinjet's speaker through Romanoff's comms link.

"Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?" I said to her as a form of greeting.

When I was close enough to Loki, I sent a blast at him with my hand repulsors, which hit him on the chest and sent him flying about twenty feet into the air and crashing into the stone steps of the plaza where he located at. I landed and pointed at him all the suit's weapons.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games," I said to Loki. He straightened up, sitting in on of the steps, dematerialized his armor, and put his arms up in surrender. I put away my weapons and lowered my arms.

"Good move," I said to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are back to Tony's POV, and Fury is a lying, lying, liar. He knows exactly what Loki's motives are. Seraphine knows about too, but she won't tell Tony. This chapter is long and seemly not important, but it touches an important plot point in the future of the story.


	36. "Shakespeare in the Park"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tony, Steve, and Natasha meet Thor.

When I arrived at Loki's location, he was busy practicing his world-conquering act with the good citizens of Stuttgart. After we had apprehended him, Rogers told me that he interrupted his villain speech. Loki was about to teach a "lesson" to an elderly man that stood up to him when he had intimidated a group of people into kneeling in front of him in a plaza located outside the building where he killed the man from the video Seraphine showed me. Although, I find very suspicious the fact that Loki didn't try to put much of a fight when we went to capture him.

Based on the fact that Loki is acting so calm right now, handcuffed in the back of the jet, I thought that maybe he wanted to get captured. The whole thing with him walking around in the open drawing attention to himself was maybe for that purpose. I told Seraphine to keep trying to locate Barton. We can't discard the possibility that Loki was playing distraction, but the fact that he didn't put up a fight is giving me an uneasy feeling. That makes no sense unless he intends to get inside S.H.I.E.L.D's base. Why would he want to do that? I had decided to go back to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base onboard the jet in case Loki tries to escape.

"He wanted to get captured. He is trying to get inside S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base. There was a break in at Xabcom Labs twenty-three miles from where Loki was located. The break in was reported eight minutes after Loki was captured. The lab analyzes and stores volatile and rare minerals and metals. There were six security personnel killed, and three more injured. It might have been Agent Barton, but I could not get any confirmation because the buildings surveillance system was disabled. It has not been reported yet what was stolen." Seraphine said to me.

"I think so too about both Loki and Barton. We need to figure out what was stolen." I said quietly to her.

"We will." She replied, and I took out my helmet.

As if reading mine and Seraphine's minds, Rogers said something similar to me, "I don't like this."

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" I said to him looking at Loki.

"That's the thing. It shouldn't have been that easy. That guy packs up a wallop." The Captain replied to me momentarily turning his head to look at Loki and then returning his attention to me.

"I know. Though you are really sprite for an older fellow. What's your secret? Pilates? It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle." I said to him shifting my attention to him.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

"Well. There are a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you." I said to him referring to all the secrets that I know Fury is keeping about this situation and all the others I'm not aware of.

At that moment, Lightning started to strike around the Quinjet. "Where is this coming from?" Romanoff asked.

Loki started looking worriedly around. "What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Rogers asked him.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki said looking warily at the ceiling.

After that, we heard something land hard on top of the jet, and the Jet shocked once with the impact. After the Jet shocked a second time, I put on my helmet and opened the back ramp of the Jet intending to go out and investigate what it was.

"What are you doing?" Rogers asked me.

At that moment, a man landed on the opened ramp of the jet. He is tall with blond shoulder length hair and built with muscles. He has a red cape, a hammer in his right hand, and is wearing a black leather outfit with metal plated chest armor. He punched me in the chest with the hammer when I was raising my right hand to send a blast at him with my repulsor, which sent me flying towards the front of the jet, in Rogers's direction. I ended landing on top of Rogers. The blond man unclasped Loki's seat belt, grabbed him by the neck, hauled him out of his chair, and flew out with him.

"Now there is that guy," I said when I picked myself up.

"Another Asgardian?" Romanoff asked.

"Do you think he is friendly?" came from Rogers as he was standing up.

"It doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, we lose the Tesseract." I answered him.

"Stark we need a plan of attack," Rogers said as I was walking towards the opened ramp.

"I have a plan. Attack." I said to him before I jumped out of the jet to follow the blond man.

"The man is the Asgardian Prince Thor. He is Loki's brother. I read about him on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. He is an ally. He may be here to take Loki back to Asgard." Seraphine said.

"Well, we can't let him take him. Loki is our only lead to find the Tesseract."

"He may be willing to work with the team to locate the Tesseract, but he is going to want to take both of them with him to Asgard afterward."

"Do you think that I can talk him into releasing Loki into our custody?"

"Probably not. Loki may be a criminal here, but he is Thor's brother and a member of the Asgardian royal family. Thor is going to want to protect Loki despite Loki's misdeeds. He is probably not going to trust your government with Loki's custody, and he has good reasons."

"That's what I think too. Well. I wouldn't blame the guy for not trusting S.H.I.E.L.D. The organization and Fury are not the most trustworthy people, but they do prioritize the general safety of the public. The hard way it is, then. I'm not really in the mood to negotiate, anyway." I said to her.

I found the blond man Thor talking with Loki near the edge of a cliff, in the highest part of a mountain. I flew at him and tackled him into some trees that were in a forest at the bottom of the mountain. We landed/crashed into the ground. I landed on my feet, and he crashed and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop.

He stood up and said to me "do not touch me again."

I pulled up my faceplate. "Then don't take my stuff," I said to him.

"You have no idea who you are dealing with."

I looked around and said "Shakespeare in the Park. Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?" I said mockingly to him and gesturing with my arms.

"This is beyond you. Little man. Loki needs to face Asgardian justice."

"If he gives up the Cube he is all yours. Until them. Stay out of the way." I said to him, pulling down my face plate and turning around. "Tourist," I said turning around to walk away.

I was about to fly back to the cliff to collect Loki when I heard a sound of something coming my way.

"Watch out." Seraphine tried to warn me.

I turned just in time to be hit in the chest with the hammer that he previously had in his hand. The hammer hit me so hard that it sent me flying backward, and I went crashing through a tree. I landed on my back about twenty feet from where I was previously standing. The red drape dude stretched his arm in my direction, and the hammer flew back into his hand.

"Ok," I said.

"The Hammer Mjoin is a dangerous sentient weapon that can summon and control lighting. You need to be careful with it." Seraphine said while I was lying on the floor.

I sat on the forest floor and fired a blast at him with my repulsors while he was spinning the hammer intending to throw it back at me. He flew back and landed upright with his back to a tree.

"You could have told me about that little detail before. How about you start with details like that the next time. A warning like the big dude has a hammer that can summon lighting and pack a hell of a punch, so try not to get smacked with it would have been greatly appreciated." I said to her while I flew at Thor and kicked him in the chest.

"Sorry, I forgot. You really are sarcastic." I don't think she sounded that sorry.

The blond man called back his hammer, raised it to the sky, collected lighting with it, and sent the lightning at me. The lighting hit me, and JARVIS announced that the suit's power was at four hundred percent capacity.

"How about that?" I blasted him back with the powered up repulsors and took a fight stance.

"Seraphine. You and I are going to continue talking about this later, when I'm not busy trying not to get my ass kicked by a pissed off Asgardian with a magical hammer, which you forgot to mention to me about." I said to her while I flew towards the blond dude, tackled him, and flew with him into the side of another mountain.

She sighed, "Ok. Fine." She said.

"I can.."

"No." I immediately said, interrupting her before she could finish the sentence. I don't need to hear the rest of the sentence to know that she wants to fight the Asgardian.

"But, I can…" She started saying.

"I know you can beat him, and the answer is still no."

"I don't like being idle while you and the rest of the team fight." She said annoyed at me and probably frustrated because I won't even let her finish saying the suggestion before refusing it.

"you agreed to that, remember." She didn't respond to my comment, which I guess means that she is angry with the current situation.

When the magic hammer guy and I came crashing back down to the forest floor, we continued fighting. He punched me. I swung my right arm to punch him in the face, but he caught it grabbing my forearm with his left hand. When I tried to punch him with my free left arm, he stopped the punch with his open palm and grabbed my closed fist. Now with both of my hands restrained, a beeping noise was notifying me that the armor's integrity was being compromised.

"I also forgot to tell you that Thor has inhuman strength," Seraphine said. Thor was crushing the metal of my right forearm with his hand.

"Well, I'm becoming aware of it already," I said to her while I open my right palm facing Thor and send a repulsor blast at his face.

He let go of my arms, and I headbutted him. He headbutted me too, and the force of it sent me flying backward. I used my left hand, dragging it through the ground, to stop the momentum and flew at him. When I reached him, I grabbed him by the back, lifted him, and threw him against a fallen tree.

We continued fighting until the captain threw his shield at both of us, and we stopped fighting. "Hey. That's enough." He said and jumped down from an upturned tree high up from the ground.

"I don't know what you are planning on doing here." He continued to say.

"I came to put a stop to Loki schemes," Thor said.

"Then prove it. Put the hammer down." Rogers replied to him.

"Ooh. No. Bad call. He loves his ha…" I was saying to Rogers when red drape dude hit me in the chest with the hammer and sent me flying back again.

I heard Thor say, "You want me to put the hammer down?" from my position on the floor, and I knew that Rogers was about to get hit by the thing.

I saw Thor leaped into the air in Rogers direction intending to strike him with the hammer. The Captain put up his shield and blocked Thor's attack with it. The shield took the energy of the lighting and reflected it back in the form of a shock wave that sent the blond man flying backward. We introduced each other after we stood back on our feet and agreed to stop fighting. The Captain told him about the Tesseract and that Loki is going to stay in S.H.I.E.L.D's custody until he gave us the Cube's location. Thor didn't argue with him and told us that he is coming with us.


	37. "So Much Power Wrapped up in Such a Pretty and Delicate Package. Beautiful, isn't it?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seraphine tells Tony some bad news.

**Friday, May 4, 2012 – Day After the Tesseract was Stolen – The Hellicarrier – Classified Location**

* * *

 

Rogers, Thor, and Romanoff went into a conference room while I stayed in a room that is next to Loki's cell looking at a video feed from Loki's cell camera. I want to hear what Loki says to Fury because I can't shake the feeling that Loki wants to be here for something, and I wanted to have some time alone to ask Seraphine about what happened back there during the fight with Thor. The kid doesn't miss anything, and there is no way that she would have "forgotten" to tell me an important detail like the fact that Thor's magic hammer is a sentient weapon that can control lighting especially if something like that can be a serious threat.

Less than 24 hours ago, I hadn't known about the existence of sentient weapons, and now I have encountered two. Now, I know that the fact that the hammer is a sentient weapon means that it can only be used by Thor. Last night I asked Seraphine some questions about the sentient weapon thing, and she told me more information about it. According to what Seraphine and Mystic told me last night, sentient weapons are very picky about who they let touch them and use their powers. Depending on the powers of the sentient weapon and the intention of the person trying to use it, some sentient weapons would go as far as to harm or even try to kill anyone who touches it who isn't it's wielder. Seraphine told me that not all sentient weapons are good; Some of them can be evil depending on who created it and the intention for its creation. Sentient dark or evil weapons would try to kill or to control anyone who touches them depending on that person's power levels and/or intentions. If an individual is really powerful, that individual can force a sentient weapon to use its powers at that individual's command if the powers and will of the individual are strong enough to overpower the sentient weapon's power level regardless if the weapon is dark/evil or light/good. The sentient weapon would still try to resist and fight the control over it from the individual who tries to control it. I looked at Seraphine worriedly but didn't ask the question burning in my mind. Could that ever happen to her?

At the moment, Fury is in front of a panel that controls Loki's cage door. He is talking to Loki. "In case it's not clear. You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass." He said as he pressed a bottom in the panel, and the floor below Loki's cell opened. Loki approached the edge of the cage and peered below. "Thirty thousand feet to fall down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" Fury said. He pressed again the bottom and the floor sealed again. "Ant." He said gesturing with both hands to the cage. "Boot." He said gesturing with both hands again towards the bottom.

"An impressive cage. Not built ... I think for me." Loki said.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury answered.

"Ooh, I heard. A mindless beast. Plays to be human. How desperate are you? You call on such lost creatures to defend you." Loki said confirming the suspicion that Barton informed him about each member of the Avengers team.

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you cannot hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because is fun. You had made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"It burns you to have been so close, to have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power, and for what? A warm light for all of mankind to share? Then, to be reminded of what real power is. You know what I want. Soo much power wrapped up in such a pretty and delicate package. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Let me know if real power wants a magazine or something." Fury said to him while he was walking out of the room.

Fury and Loki's little conversation just confirmed my suspicions. Loki's comments about the light for mankind and him telling Fury that he knows what Loki wants are ringing all sort of warning bells going off in my head. Now, I know that Loki did want to get captured, and Fury knows the reason why. I'm about to uncover a few secrets. This has to be connected to Mystic and Seraphine. Though, I think that the ruse Seraphine and Fury are playing of keeping Seraphine hidden, so Loki thinks she went back to being inactive, is working. Loki doesn't seem worried that Seraphine will appear to stop him from doing whatever it is he is planning.

"Ok. Tell me what that back there with Thor magic hammer was about? I know you couldn't have just forgotten a detail like that." I asked Seraphine who had transformed into a bracelet around my left wrist after I took out the armor and stashed it in a compartment in the Hellicarrier.

"I was… distracted." She answered me pausing for a few seconds after the word was. She is using a Bluetooth earpiece I have on my ear to communicate with JARVIS to talk with me.

"Distracted with what?" I asked her.

"I'm worried about my Khalilah. I'm worried about the reason why Loki let himself be captured. I know he is looking for her."

I was surprised at that. "Does that means that S.H.I.E.L.D. know where she is? I thought you and Loki were the only ones that came through the portal. If she came through the portal, where is she?" I asked her. I'm so close to finding Mystic. Maybe, Seraphine will tell me her location.

"Director Fury knows where she is. I know that you are a Khalil to her. I used our mental connection to tell her about Loki, and I told her about you. I told her that I … that I like you, and you treat me like a person and not a weapon or a thing. She wasn't surprised. I was expecting her to be angry, but she was happy. She told me about you, her connection with you, that she was hoping that we would bond, and the reason why I was created. She said to tell you that she didn't mean for either of us to find out about it like this. She wanted to tell you about me, but she knew it would change your response to me. She wanted for the two of us to bond without any influence on her part, and she wanted me to choose on my own accord." She said to me.

"What? Bond and the reason why you were created? I don't understand. Explain it to me because I think that what you are trying to say is that she wants you to bond with me as your wielder. Find out about what?"

"When I bonded with my Khalilah, she was very surprised that I choose her. She didn't expect me to choose her as my wielder, but she was happy about it none the less. I now learned that the reason why she didn't expect I would choose her as my wielder is that Master Totosai didn't fuse her blood with my body when he and my Khalilah were creating me. When a sentient weapon is being created, some of the blood of its intended possible wielder is blended into the sentient weapon's metal to influence the sentient weapon to bond with that individual and facilitate the bonding process. However, the blending of the blood of an individual with a sentient weapon doesn't guarantee that the sentient weapon is going to choose that individual as its wielder. The weapon will reject its intended wielder if it feels the individual isn't worthy or fit to wield it. Sentient weapons can chose to bond with a blood relative of the person, wait to bond with a descendant of the person, or bond with someone who isn't blood-related at all to the individual. Plus, there is also the fact that a sentient weapon's smith would only create a sentient weapon for a possible intended wielder if the smith believes that the individual is worthy and capable of wielding this kind of weapon. That's the reason why the bond between a sentient weapon is considered a rare honor and privilege. Even with the influence of the blood, sentient weapons are very selective of who they chose to bond wih. I chose my Khalilah as my wielder without any influence." She said in a low disheartened tone.

"That's good, right. It means that she didn't create you to be used by anyone. You are not just a weapon. You are also a living being, and she knows that. I know that she loves you. She created you to be your own person. She wants you to make your own choices and decisions and didn't try to influence you to choose her as her wielder. That should make you happy. Why is it that you don't sound happy?" I said to her trying to cheer her up and not understanding why that makes her sad. Shouldn't she be happy that Mystic and this man Totosai created her to be a living being with a complete free will of her own, and they didn't want her to be used as a tool. She should be happy about that. Right?

"You don't understand. As a sentient weapon, I need a wielder to be able to reach my true potential. The genuineness of the wielder's intent and the strength of his or her will allows a sentient weapon to grow in power and potential. The mental and emotional connection the wielder shares with the sentient weapon is what allows its powers to grow and determine its strength. I'm happy that my Khalilah doesn't want me to be used as an object, and she wants me to make my own choices and decisions. What I'm… Upset about is that my Khalilah …. She… She created me to be her legacy."

My blood turned cold hearing that last sentence and the way she keeps pausing during that sentence as if she is too upset to speak and the words keep getting stuck in her throat. Heartbreak and sadness, that's what I keep hearing in her tone. Legacy? Is she implying what I think she is implying? A legacy is something that is passed down from someone to someone else after that first person has… No, no, no. I can feel a knot in my stomach. That would mean that Mystic is.. that she thinks that she may…. It must be a preventive measure, just that. She created Seraphine thinking about the possibility. That's it! The kid and I are getting upset over nothing because that's what it is. That's what it has to be. I forced my breathing to even out again, to calm down. Seraphine is upset, and I should try to calm her and reassure her because both of us are jumping to the wrong conclusion.

"Kiddo. I'm sure that it's nothing. She was probably thinking about a possible future scenario. Did she say specifically that she created you because she thinks something is going to happen to her? Maybe, she meant something different. Tell me what she said to you." I can feel myself starting to get anxious even as I'm trying to force my breathing to even out.

"She told me how she created me, why Master Totosai and she agreed not to create anymore living weapons, why I'm different from all the others sentient weapons, and why she created me. She told me… She told me that…. She… She wanted me to know the truth. That no ma… matter what she loves me… And… That she knows you will take care of me. She didn't say exactly that she thinks she may…. That she is… Going to…. To… But there is something that she is still not telling me, and I know that must be it." She said to me in a low tone, and I can hear the sadness in her voice. The way she is having trouble getting the words out as her voice breaks because she is too upset to say the words out loud.

I'm feeling a tightness in my chest, and I'm starting to feel as if I can't breathe properly like my lungs are forgetting how to process the air I'm taking.

"Tony, it's ok. Take… a deep breath. Hold it." I heard Seraphine in my ear.

"I can't." I'm trying to say to her.

"It's... It's ok. I know you feel like you can't breathe, but you can. Now… Take a deep breath." I did what she said. "Just like that. Hold it. Good. Now let it go slowly. There is no rush. You are doing good. Let's do it again. Inhale slowly. Hold it for five seconds. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Exhale slowly." I can feel myself starting to calm down. I'm supposed to be comforting her and reassuring her. Instead, I'm freaking out on her, and she is trying to calm me down. I'm a fucking mess. "Again. Inhale slowly. Hold it. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Exhale slowly. One more time. Inhale slowly. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Exhale slowly. See. You are ok." My breathing was back to normal now. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to upset you." She said.

"It's ok. I'm fine, now. Sorry for freaking out on you. Thank you for that. How did you know that was going to work?" This is embarrassing. I'm supposed to be the adult. The adult is supposed to remain calm while the kid freaks out, not the other way around.

"I have seen my Khalila do that when she gets really upset or angry. It always calms her down. You call her Mystic. She told me about that. She said that you will learn her name soon." She sounds calmer now, and she is no longer struggling with her words.

Mystic is being her enigmatic self again. That doesn't necessarily mean anything bad. It doesn't! Damn it! It doesn't! "Seraphine, Kiddo, tell me what she said. Maybe, she just wanted to let you know that she thinks that is ok for you to choose to bond with whoever you want because she created you to be able to make your own choices. Maybe, she told you about why and how she created you as a way to emphasize that. It could just mean that she is trying to tell you that she supports whatever decision you make. It doesn't necessarily mean that something is going to happen to her. Let's start with how she created you." I said to her in a low soft tone. I'm not really sure if I'm trying to reassure her or me, maybe both of us. I don't need to start to freak out again, and I need to try to keep her calm as well.

"I have to tell you something first. She said to tell you she…" She was interrupted by the door opening to reveal Coulson stepping into the room. "Stark, the Director is looking for you. You are needed on the bridge. Were you talking to Seraphine? Director Fury wants to talk with her. Is everything Ok? You look a little flustered." He said while the door closed behind him.

"I'm fine. I was talking with Seraphine, and she isn't happy that Loki seemed to have let himself get captured so easily. She wouldn't tell me why, though. Do you know anything about that? Where is the Director? You are going to have to take her to him because she can't be wondering around by herself if she wants to remain undetected." I said to him being deflective and letting think that I'm irritated with Seraphine over her not wanting to tell me why she is angry that Loki let himself get captured.

It's time to put on a show. I got up from the chair, adopting a serious, indignant attitude, forcing myself to show a calm façade, and not to let Coulson notice my anxiety. He seemed to buy my act. I'm really lucky that he walked in after my freak out episode, and I have already calmed down enough to fool him into thinking I'm ok. I wouldn't have been able to explain to him why I was alone and hyperventilating in a room. I have to set this matter aside for later. There are other pressing matters to attend too, but I'm going to have to continue this conversation with Seraphine later.

Seraphine melted from around my wrist and took the shape of a doll again. She greeted him with a tight-lipped smile and waved hi at him. "Seraphine, It's good to see you again," Coulson said to her, to which her only reply was another tight-lipped smile. After that, she melted and shaped herself into a bracelet around Coulson's wrist.

"I'm going to keep using my link with JARVIS to communicate with you through the Bluetooth device." I heard her voice in my ear again, and I was happy that she isn't abandoning me in favor of hanging out with Coulson.

Coulson and I were on our way to the conference room when I heard Doctor Banner say, "I think is about the mechanics. Iridium. What does he need the Iridium for?" Seraphine told me after our little fight with Thor that was what was stolen from the lab.

"Stabilizing agent," I said to him since I figured that Loki wanted the Tesseract to open another portal, and he needs it to be stable.

Coulson told me what happened in the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility the Tesseract was at and that the portal Loki came from blew up. Seraphine "forgot" to mention some details again. When I asked her about it, she told me that she thought I knew about the explosion. The files Coulson gave me didn't mention the explosion, though. Although now that I think about it, there was a file about Thor in the debrief. I did see like a four seconds glimpse of a video of him fighting a giant metal robot, but I didn't see his name. I skipped his file because he is supposed to be in Asgard. I didn't read any information about him and only saw his name and that video, which I wasn't paying attention to either. I was too busy watching a video of the Hulk causing chaos and destruction at Culver, reading about the Tesseract, and also Doctor Selvig's notes. So, yeah, I have a very good excuse for not thinking about reading the file to learn about a blond dude swinging a hammer.

"If Loki wants to open a portal, it means that the portal will not collapse the same way it did at S.H.I.E.L.D," I told Banner while I walked in the direction of the computers in the bridge.

To Thor, I said, "No hard feeling point break. You have a mean swing." I swat him lightly on one arm when I walked by him.

"Also, it means that the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants," I said.

I was examining the Helicarrier's Bridge and getting close to a computer panel as I said that. I asked Seraphine if she could get into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files for me to uncover what else Fury is hiding and Mystic's location. She said that she told Fury she isn't going to hack S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems again unless she has his permission. I'm on my own on that. Good thing I can have JARVIS do it for me.

"That man is playing Galaga. He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." I said when I saw an Agent playing the game in one of the computer monitors as a way to distract everyone from what I'm doing with the computers.

I put a hand over my eye and asked: "How does Fury even sees these?" I asked.

"He turns," a woman Agent with dark brown hair in a ponytail answered my question.

"That's exhausting," I replied back.

"The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to kick start the Cube, problem solved." I said while I touched the computers and installed the device that JARVIS is going to use to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database. I turned around in the direction of the others, snapped my fingers, and put my hands in my pockets.

"When did you became an expert in Thermal Nuclear Physics?" The woman asked me.

"Last night, the Package, Selvig notes, the extraction paperwork. I'm I the only one who did the reading?" I looked at the rest of the people around the conference table and gestured with my hands.

"Does Loki needs any particular kind of power source?" the Captain asked.

"He got to heat the cube to a hundred million Kelvin just to break through the Culver barrier." Banner said.

"Unless Selvig figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," I replied walking towards him.

"If he did that, he could get heavy ion fusion in any reactor on the planet." Banner said.

I'm happy to find someone here who understands science. "Finally, someone who speaks English," I said to him.

"Is that what just happened?" Rogers asked.

"It's nice to meet you, Doctor Banner. Your work in anti-electron collision is unparalleled. I'm also a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous rage monster." I said to Banner while I was shaking his hand.

At that time, Fury walked into the conference room and said, "Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping that you could help him do that Stark."

"I would start with that stick of his. It might be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Said Rogers.

"I don't know about that, but it's powered by the Cube. I also would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Fury said.

"Monkeys? I do not understand," said Thor.

"I do. I understood that reference." Said Rogers.

I rolled my eyes at Rogers pleased response to understanding that reference. "Shall we play, Doctor?" I asked Banner.

"This way," he said. We left the conference room, and Banner showed me the direction to the lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that you are probably not pleased about everything that was implied in this chapter because there were quite a few things implied here. Seraphine found out the reason why she was created and she is really upset about it. Instead of giving Tony a straight answer, she was all vague and enigmatic, which isn't that surprising considering that "Mystic" is her mentor, and "Mystic" does that to Tony all the time.
> 
> Of course, Tony would get upset about it, but he is in denial and doesn't even want to consider it. She got interrupted before she could explain it properly, but she isn't going to explain it properly anyway. I'm going to leave that part to the Girl to explain when she awakens. I will say though that Seraphine is so upset about it because she is almost certain that it isn't just a probability, but something the Girl is almost sure is going to happen. The Girl had a purpose for creating Seraphine. Well more than one purpose, really. If Seraphine's creation was meant to be some sort of legacy, for what purpose and/or for whom was Seraphine intended for?
> 
> Tony is going to receive more bad news from Seraphine next chapter, which isn't related to what the two of them talked about in this chapter. The news is about something else. Emotions are really hard to write and convey into words. I hope that I did a half-way decent job putting into words the emotions in that scene. Enjoy the reading, or not, depending on how you took the implications of what Seraphine is so upset about. Leave comments.


	38. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seraphine and Tony talk about Mystic.

Before we entered the lab, I told Banner that I had to check on something with Coulson, and I was going to be back in a few minutes. I need some time alone to finish my conversation with Seraphine.

"Ok. Let's talk now. You said that you have something to tell me." I said to her as soon as I found an empty room where we could have a private conversation without being interrupted.

"She said to tell you that she is sorry. Long ago, she and the others made a pact to never come in contact with the others they share a connection with, especially while they are still children. They aren't supposed to interfere in the others lives. She says that she knows you are in love with her. It was inevitable. It's what the connection demands. It won't be satisfied until the bond is complete. She said that frequent contact with the ones they share a connection with while they are children ruins them. Continued interactions make the connection, and the feelings grow. The connection grows faster and much stronger in teenagers, and she was supposed to stay away. When she saw you, she couldn't walk away. She knew that. She knew about it, and she still didn't walk away. This is the one rule they have. They are not to break it no matter what. She wanted to tell you about it last night, to explain it, but you needed to concentrate on the problem with Loki, so she stayed silent."

Too much. Sorry? Ruins? How would Mystic's presence ruin me? She is saying Mystic broke the rules by visiting me. Is Mystic in trouble because of it? "Wow. Kiddo. Slow down. I don't understand. You have to explain to me the connection thing because I don't understand it. Who are the they you mentioned? Is Mystic in trouble because she broke a rule by visiting me. Is that like a forbidden thing? Is that the reason why you think that she may… that something is going to happen to her? Because she broke a forbidden law? How could her presence in my life ruin me? I don't understand." I can feel myself starting to panic again. In all the years I have known Mystic, she has never talked or giving any indication about breaking any kind of rule by visiting me, or that frequent interaction between the two of us could have a bad effect on me.

"It's not because of her connection with you or her visits to you. It's something else. An incomplete, broken bond leaves deep psychological and emotional marks, consequences. I can't tell you anything else about it. She is going to explain it to you when she gets the chance. She said that she wished to tell this to you in person, but there is no time. She wanted me to tell you about it because you are probably going to meet her in person very soon. The two of you have had constant interactions with each other for an extended period of time, and the strength of the connection has grown to be quite strong. Close physical proximity with a bond so strong can be overwhelming. You can't let anyone know that you know her. She says to warn you not to try to lift the spell. She has been under its influence for too long. She will be dangerous if she awakens now. If she awakens, she won't want to go back to be under the spell. She is an angel, but she is also a demon. She will still be under the influence of the spell because it can only be lifted by the one who placed it on her. If she awakens, her demonic side will be very close to the surface."

"Kiddo. I still don't understand. What's this connection Mystic and I have? What spell are you talking about? You need to explain this to me." I'm so confused. I have no clue what Seraphine is talking about.

"She is under a sleeping spell. She was put under the spell to protect her. Before she was put under the spell, one of her Khalils with who she has a completed bond with was taken, kidnapped. My Khalilah was losing control of her demonic side and was put under the spell to keep her contained. That's what the bond does to the ones from the group with demonic blood. Their demonic instincts take over when they feel that someone they are bonded with is in danger. That's one of the reasons why the connection is so dangerous. They should keep away from the others they have a connection with."

"That can't be possible. Mystic was talking and behaving normally with me last night. Is that the reason why she says that she should have stayed away from me? Because this connection thing makes them lose control if something happens to the person they have a bond with? I'm still confused about the connection you are referring to. Why didn't Mystic ever mentioned this to me before?"

"She is fine and in control for as long as she remains under the spell. Yes, that is one of the reasons, but it isn't the only one. You need to go back to the lab now before Doctor Banner starts to wonder about your absence."

"Where is she? You still haven't really explained anything to me." I said to her frustrated, anxious, worried, and confused.

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you." It's perfectly obvious to me that Mystic is Seraphine's mentor. Seraphine has learned from Mystic to answer questions without really answering them and to leave me confused, frustrated, and with a hundred questions whenever we have a serious conversation about anything related to her. I really hate when Mystic does that, and it looks like Seraphine learned what the best moment to be frustratingly vague and enigmatic is. Is it too much to ask to receive a straight answer for once?

"Can you at least tell me about the legacy thing, and what did exactly Mystic say to you about it?" Silence. She isn't even talking to me. Out of all the times, she could have chosen to go radio silent, does it has to be now?' "Seraphine. Goddamnit, Seraphine." I keep getting no answer. If I want some answers, I'm going to have to get them from Mystic. She owns me some explanations. I have so many questions and not enough answers.

Why didn't Mystic mention anything to me about being under a stasis spell? What is going on with this connection Mystic has with me that Seraphine keeps mentioning? Those two things are apparently a few of the growing list of things that Mystic is keeping from me. I understand that she didn't tell me about her background, but this is something that affects me directly. I had the right to know about it if it was bound to have a negative impact on me.

Seraphine didn't tell me what the psychological and emotional "wounds" are, but I can guess what she is referring to. I'm of two minds about it. On the one hand, I'm angry with Mystic about not being upfront with me about it. On the other hand, even if she were to have said something about it, I don't think It would have made too much of a difference. I wouldn't have asked her to stop visiting me.

My frustration with having her so close and at the same time not, the fact that I thought she wasn't a living, breathing person, and she was forever out of my reach, has prompted mostly all of my self-destructive and reckless decisions.

I remember one particularly bad moment when the feeling was overwhelmingly strong. It happened the day my parents died, and I was grieving their death, well, mostly my mom's death to be more exact. I was too busy mourning and crying over her death to pay much attention to the fact that Howard died too. Hey, I'm not a complete jackass. If he would have died in that car crash, and mom had survived, I would have gotten blackout drunk thinking about how shitty it was that he died. I would I had been sad and melancholic for the next two or three weeks. However, my mom died as well, which meant that all of my attention was in that. I had my priorities straight, mourn, cry, and be devastated over my mother's death, and get blackout drunk in memory of my old man later.

Anyway, Mystic appeared when I was alone that day, and she was watching me sadly. She extended her arm towards me, realized that she couldn't touch me, and retrieved it before reaching me. I remember suddenly getting so frustrated, and feeling so helplessly impotent, and angry with the whole situation because, at that moment, I would have given up anything, everything, my whole fortune to be able to feel that comforting touch. Just being able to feel the brush of her fingers would have been enough. She was right there, right there in front of me, but she wasn't, not really. I wanted it, I needed it soo damn much, so badly, and I couldn't have it. That day, I ended up completely trashing the house, breaking anything and everything I could find that I could break, and drinking my weight in alcohol until I passed out.

That time, my destructive behavior was fueled and enhanced by the loss of my parents, but there were many, many other times after that which were sorely prompted by the absence of her physical presence. I would try to drown the feeling with sex, alcohol, or drugs. I would only get a momentary reprise. As soon as the brief moment of reprise passed, the feeling would come back. I would try to drown the feeling again, and it became a vicious, downward spiral. The only exception I can think to that, which wasn't prompted because of Mystic, is the creation of the Mark suits. Those are a result of a combination of guilt, self-loathing, and a thirst for justice.

Even knowing all of this, if she were to have warned me about all of it from the beginning and told me that her visits would prompt me towards adopting self-destructive, reckless behavior, I would have still chosen to continue seeing her. I can see why something like this could be dangerous and destructive for both of us and anyone she shares this type of connection with. She is no more able to stay away from me than I'm able to let her go. I can't imagine what my life would be like without Mystic in it. Just trying to imagine what it would be like if I wouldn't be able to see her and talk to her again is enough to make me start to feel anxious again. I don't even want to consider the possibility of something happening to her. No. I can't think about that. Seraphine must be overreacting. That's it! There is nothing more to it. I started doing the breathing exercise Seraphine did with me before to calm myself down.

Seeing that Seraphine isn't going to answer my questions anymore, I took a few more seconds to calm down completely and walked back to the lab. Now I'm even more determined than ever to find Mystic. Although, I won't get any answers if she is under a spell designed to keep her unconcious. Right now, what I care about is that I'm finally going to be able to be in her physical, tangible presence. I just need to see her alive and breathing. I would be content with that, just that. I can get answers later.

"The gamma radiation is definitely consistent with what Selvig reported from the Cube, but it's going to take weeks to process." Banner said to me while he was scanning Loki's scepter. We were in the lab working on analyzing Loki's spear and imputing the data into the system to be able to create a tracking algorithm.

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops," I said to him while I was recalibrating the device to process the data faster.

"All I packed is a tooth brush." He said to me.

"You know you should drop by Stark tower sometime. Top ten floors are all R&D. You will love it. It's candy land." I said to him while I walked in his direction.

"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke... Harlem." He said to me while his attention was on the work he was doing in one of the computers.

"Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension. No surprises," I said to him and then prodded him in the ribs with the electric pen that I had in my hands. I wanted to see what his reaction would be.

"Ow!" was all he said, but nothing else happened.

"Nothing?" I asked him inspecting his face and trying to spot any changes.

Rogers who just came into the lab, said to me "Hey! Could you not?" I ignored him in favor of paying attention to Banner.

"You really have that under control. What's your secret? Mellow Jaz, Bongo drums, a huge bag of weed?" I asked Banner trying to find out how he keeps his control from slipping and transforming into the Hulk.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Rogers asked me in a serious, irritated tone.

"Funny things are," I replied to him. The strange sense of familiarity I feel around him since the two of us met while capturing Loki really bothers me. At the moment, I chalked it up to the fact that I grow up constantly hearing stories about him. I should feel like I know the man. Practically, that's all I ever heard my dad talk about whenever he was in the mood to spend a few minutes around me. Steve this, Steve that, was usually associated with a hated phrase like, why can't you be more like Steve. I both admired and hated Steve Rogers in equal measure.

Now, having the man in front of me, I know that there is more going on than just feeling like I know him because I know a lot of things about him. This is the same feeling I had when I first met Mystic. It's The same type of content and ease that I feel around Rhodey. Rhodey is my best friend. I have known him since I was fourteen years old, and I love him like a brother. The feeling with Mystic grew into much more than just content and ease, but it started that way. It started the same way this is starting. Right now, I both want to hug Rogers and welcome him back like a long lost brother, and to punch him in behalf of the child who never was able to measure up to his father's ideal expectations based on this man.

I now know a little more about this connection I share with Mystic. If this is the same type of connection I share with Mystic, it means that the feeling will grow in strength with frequent interactions. If I start to feel towards Rogers something like what I started to feel towards Mystic after a while of being around her, I swear to God I'm seriously going to start to consider throwing myself from Stark Tower's roof without the Mark suit to end my misery. I need to cut this out before it takes root while the connection it's still weak, and I'm still able to. I know that if I let it grow, I'm not going to want or even be able to stay away. Right now though, the world is in danger, and I need to put my reservations aside and cooperate with Rogers. The connection doesn't grow if we don't have frequent interactions with each other. After this situation is resolved, I'm planning on putting as much distance as possible between him and me.

"Threating the safety of everybody in this ship isn't funny." The Captain said expressing his disapproval.

"No offense Doctor Banner," Rogers said.

"It's alright. I wouldn't be here if I couldn't handle pointy things." Banner replied with a little self-deprecating smirk.

"You need to focus on the problems," Rogers said to me.

"You think I'm not? What does Fury want with us? Why now? I can't complete the equation unless I have all of the variables." I said to Rogers thinking about all the things I just found out and about all the other possible many things Mystic, Seraphine, and Fury are still hiding.

"You think Fury is hiding something?" Rogers asked me. He mustn't have been paying close attention to Loki's and the Director's conversation.

"Captain, he is the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?" I said gesturing with my hand in Banner's direction.

"I… I just want to finish my work here." Banner replied trying to avoid getting involved in our argument.

"Doctor?" Rogers asked him.

"A warm light for all of mankind to share. Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube." Banner answered.

"I heard it." The Captain said.

"I think that was meant for you." He said to me.

"Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it has been all over the news." Banner continued.

"Stark Tower? That big ugly…" I turned my head to look at Rogers. He paused and continued saying, "building in New York?" The man has no appreciation for modern architecture.

"It's powered by an arc reactor. It's a self-sustaining energy source. That building is going to run by itself for about a year."

"It's just a prototype. I'm kind of the only name in the clean energy business right now." I replied.

"So why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring in Stark into the project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place? What about what Loki said to Fury? You know what I want. It makes me think that Loki wants something Fury has, and Loki thinks it's here. There is also that part about the power wrapped up in a pretty and delicate package, and he referred to it as beautiful. I don't think Loki was referring to the Tesseract. He definitely wasn't referring to himself even if Fury made it seem as if that's what it was. Fury knows why Loki let himself get captured. Loki wants something he thinks is here, and Fury isn't telling us anything about it." Banner said.

I thought about that possibility. Mystic may be here in the Helicarrier, but this place is really big. I would have to check room for room. Although I think that she may be in the lower levels, I can't be sure. That's the reason why I'm waiting for the decryption program to finish getting into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files.

"I should probably get to that when my decryption program finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files," I replied and took out my StakPhone from my back pocket to check on JARVIS progress.

"Sorry. Did you just say breaking into?" Rogers said.

"JARVIS has been breaking into the files. In a few hours, I will know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide." I said to Rogers.

"And you are confused about why they don't want you around?" Rogers replied using the same disapproving manner of before.

"An intelligence agency that fears intelligence? I think that's historically not awesome." I said.

"I think that Loki is trying to wind us up. This is a man that means to start a war, and if we don't stay focus, he is going to succeed. We have ordered. We should follow them." The Captain said. The man is like a boy scout. I don't need his self-righteous disapproval.

"Which one of us is wearing, A. a spangled outfit and B. not of use?" I said to Rogers dismissively.

"Steve. Tell me if this doesn't smell a little funky to you." Banner said to him.

"Just finish your job." The Captain said as he walked away.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about. I wonder if they should have kept him on the ice." I said to Banner. Seriously. The idea that I might share with Rogers a connection like the one I share with Mystic is just awful.

"The guy is not wrong about Loki. He is trying to wind us up."

"I think that Loki has a pack of dynamite in his hands. It's going to blow up in his face, and I will be there when it does."

"I will read all about it."

"Or, you will be suiting up with the rest of us."

"You see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"You know.. I got a cluster of shrapnel trying to claw its way into my heart. This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me. It's a terrible privilege." I said to him tapping the arc reactor in my chest.

"But you can control it."

"Hey. I read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"Sorry, you are saying that the Hulk. The other guy saved my life. That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for, what?"

"I guess that we will find out."

"You may not enjoy that."

"I think that I just might," I said to him.

About ten minutes after that, my phone beeped signaling that J.A.R.V.I.S. finished decrypting S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. There were two files that caught my attention. One of them was called phase two, and the other Living Gem. Ding! Ding! Ding! Jackpot! This has to be the file with Mystic's information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Girl told Seraphine to tell Tony not to try to awaken her. She is going to wake up anyway. Tony just doesn't seem to catch a break, but he finally got the information about Mystic's location.


	39. "So…. That's What you Have Been Hiding."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finds a way to confront Director Fury about the file.

Mystic told me last night she is known as the Living Gem because she has the power of the Infinity Soul Gem. When I opened the file called Living Gem, the only thing on it was A-135. There is nothing else on it, not even a description. Trust the pirate to be super secretive even when putting information in a heavily encrypted, secret file.

I have two options. First option. I could go and check the entire Helicarrier until I find the room number. That's assuming that this is a room number in here in the Hellicarrier. For all I know, this could be the combination to the door, or I can go for the second option. I can confront the Pirate Director, and make him tell me about it. The problem with that is that I'm not supposed to know anything about Mystic, and the Pirate isn't going to tell me anything about a file with just a number on it. Then, I realized that I'm not supposed to know about the Living Gem, but the Asgardians do. If the crazy Asgardian currently being locked in the glass prison knows about her, then his brother must know about her too. I can definitively enlist him to help me interrogate Fury. I can use an intimidating factor to ply information from the Director, and the Asgardian has that in spares. I told Banner that I needed to step out for a minute and went to find Thor. It's time to put on a performance. I can't let any of them discover that I know Mystic.

I found Thor coming from the Bridge and walking down the hallway. "Thor. Do you have a moment?"

"Of course, what do you need man of Iron?"

"Do you know what the Living Gem is?"

Thor's expression was something I didn't expect. The man looked really surprised and then nervous. "Where did you hear that? Did you talk with Loki? Was he the one that mentioned the treasure?" He asked me nervously.

"The treasure? No. I didn't. I read it in one of the Fury's secret files." I replied to him.

"Ooh. If the Director knows about the existence of the treasure, it means that the Living Gem is here in Midgard. This is really bad. I need to speak with the Director immediately." He said. Then, he turned back the way he came and started to walk away very fast.

I followed him while he looked for Fury. I had to run to be able to catch up with him. I started asking him questions in rapid-fire succession, letting my excitement slip through. "What do you mean about the treasure? What is it anyways? The file didn't say anything. It was completely blank." I told him while he was walking and looking for Fury. Finally, after so many years, I'm about to see Mystic in person and not as a projection of her consciousness.

"Director, it is of the utmost importance that I speak with you," Thor said to Fury as soon as he saw him.

"Thor. What do you need?" The Director asked.

"Where is the Living Gem? I demand to see the treasure immediately." Thor said going straight to the point.

Fury seemed to be taken momentarily by surprised but adopted a serious aptitude fast. "We need to discuss this in a more private location. After we are there, you can continue to ask me all the questions you want. I'm going to try to answer your questions as much as I can, but we can't talk about this here." Fury said, and with that, he started walking out of the main bridge without even waiting for Thor's reply.

Thor followed silently after Fury, and I followed both of them. Once we arrived at a spacious office that I assumed is Fury's, the director closed the door behind him and turned in Thor's direction "from where did you get that information?" He asked Thor, and then Fury turned an accusing glare on me without waiting for Thor to answer his question. "Stark, do you have something to do with this?"

"I might; I had JARVIS hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. It would have taken just a few minutes if I have had someones else help, but there was something about agreeing to not getting into your files again without your approval. I was left to my own devices with that. Now, tell us what is this Gem, treasure thing." I replied to him, letting him know that I broke into his files on my own, and Seraphine had nothing to do with it. He is looking at me like he wants to strangle me, but I'm feeling too eager about this to care about it. The angry pirate isn't going to ruin my mood. I have waited too long for this chance to be deterred now.

"The Living Gem is not something, is someone. A woman to be more exact." Thor said, ignoring the death glare the Director was throwing in my direction.

To the director, he said. "I demand to see her at once."

"So…. that's what you have been hiding. Another alien. Is she another Asgardian? We could use the help of another demigod right now." I said to Fury. He gave me another angry glare, turned his attention to Thor, and apparently decided that he is going to ignore me completely. It's better that way. If neither of them is paying close attention to me, they aren't going to see anything suspicious in my behavior. I don't think I'm going to be able to keep myself completely composed when I finally get to see Mystic in person. I'm bound to let something slip in my demeanor.

"I'm afraid that I cannot let you see her, Thor. This Living Gem as you call her is being sought by Loki, and he cannot know we have her here. Plus, we haven't determined her threat level yet." The Director said to the Asgardian trying to get him to drop the matter.

"Threat level? I can assure you that the Gem is not a threat, at least not to you. She is a Neo-Celestial, a protector. How did you find her, and how have been able to contain her? There is no cell or place in this universe that can contain the treasure. Unless she came with you willingly." Thor said to Fury not being the least deterred by the Director's refusal to let him see her. The man is royalty. He is used to getting his way.

"What is a Neo-Celestial?" Fury asked.

"If the Gem hasn't said anything about herself, then I am in no condition to tell you. If you have her in captivity, you need to release her immediately. You also need to answer my questions." Fury looked like he swallowed something sour. Then, he sighed, apparently realizing that Thor isn't going to be satisfied until he sees Mystic. She must be a very important person in Asgard to warrant this kind of reaction out of Thor. It looks like the Asgardian is going to do the whole interrogation for me. This is going a lot better than how I anticipated. I just need to let everything unfold on its own.

"She came through a second portal which opened after Loki was somehow able to remotely activate the Tesseract to create a portal to take him to the Tesseract's location. She came floating down from the ceiling enveloped in a shimmering energy bubble, and she was unconscious. After Loki had brainwashed Agent Barton and Doctor Selvig, he tried to do the same with her but failed. He left her in there when it became evident that he couldn't touch her or approach her because of the energy shield that she had. However, he did say that he was coming back for her, which is why I'm not surprised that he is here. After the facility had collapsed, we took her out and placed her in a secured room in here in the Helicarrier. She hasn't woken up yet. The only thing we know of her is what Loki told me, which was pretty much nothing except for the fact that he called her the Living Gem and the treasure of the nine realms, and she has a protector that tends to follow her everywhere she goes. There was nothing else. As I said before, I cannot let you see her until we evaluate her threat level."

"You do not understand. You are playing with forces beyond your control. You need to get her out of here and return her to the place you found her at. The one that protects her, her companion, will come looking for her, and he will tear apart everything and anyone that stands in his way to her. He doesn't take well to anyone that tries to keep her in captivity. Also, if he finds her in less than optimal condition, he will be quite displeased, and believe me when I say that you don't want to see him displeased. I don't think that he is going to like to find her unconscious either. The fact that she is unconscious is probably the only reason why he isn't already here. He would have sensed her presence, otherwise." He said to Fury. This is yet something else I didn't know about Mystic.

"She isn't our prisoner. I believe that we can manage one angry alien. What do you mean by sense her presence? You mean to tell me that this man can track her anywhere she is?" The Director replied. Does this have anything to do with the connection Seraphine said Mystic has with these others she mentioned?

"The two of them are bonded. They are emphatically linked to each other. That's how he knows whenever the Gem is in danger. I can not tell you more about it. You will not be able to stand against him, or her for that matter. Even combined, Loki, the Chitauri army, and I, are children compared to then. Neither of your most powerful warriors can hope to stand against either one of them. They will be able to tear apart the man of iron's armor as if it were made out of parchment." He said. Now that he is mentioning this angry protector Mystic has, I forgot that Seraphine warned me not to try to awaken Mystic because she says that Mystic is going to be dangerous if she awakens. I wonder what exactly she wants me to do about that. I can't say anything about it to Fury or anyone else without explaining how I know that.

"Ooh. I prefer it if no one tries to tear me apart. I like being in one piece." I say to Thor, and both of them ignored me. Anyway, Mystic wouldn't harm me, so I'm really not worried about that.

"You say that she is not a threat. Tearing people apart sounds like someone quite dangerous to me." Fury said to Thor.

"She will only act violently if you try to attack her or keep her in captivity. She will even help you defeat the Chitauri if you ask her politely. She is fond of this planet. She will want to protect it if she can. Also, if you have no intention of taking her captive, then, there is no issue with me seeing her." That's a nice strategy. Now, Fury is going to have to let Thor see Mystic. The Director is backed into a corner. If he doesn't let the Asgardian see her, it's going to be interpreted as if he does wants to imprison her.

"Fine. I will take you to her. Try not to approach that energy shield of her. I saw what that thing did when the facility collapsed." Fury said to him and started walking away again without waiting for either of us.

"Ooh. I'm not going to miss this. If this woman has Thor all worried, then I want to meet her." I said to both of them. No way they are going to leave me out of this. I received another irritated glare from Fury, and Thor just continued to ignore me. The Asgardian is really agitated. If Mystic wakes up and finds herself looked up in a room, she is going to be really pissed off. Now that I know about Mystic's powers, I can't blame Thor for being so anxious about it. Even more so if there is a possibly already pissed off, really dangerous man that's probably already looking for her, and he is going to know exactly where she is as soon as she wakes up.

When we were passing by the lab, I went inside the lab and called Banner so that he could come with us.

"Doctor Banner is supposed to locate the Tesseract. You can't just pull him out of the lab." Fury said to me.

"It's Ok Director. I have calibrated the computers to locate it. The program is running by itself now. When it finds the Tesseract's location, the computer is going to alert us." He said to Fury.

"What is it that you want me to see? And why is Thor acting so… Nervous?" Banner asked me once he started walking next to me.

"It's a surprise. I discovered what it is that Fury is hiding, and when I asked Thor about it, he freaked out. You are not going believe what it is." I told him.

"Where is Romanoff, anyways? Thor made that little scene back there, and she didn't appear." I asked to no one in particular.

"She is at the detention level trying to see if she can get some useful information out of Loki." Fury answered me.

A few seconds after that, Rogers appeared in the corridor, walking towards us and looking really pissed off.

"Director Fury, I need to talk to you." He said to the Director as soon as he saw him.

"Let me guess. You found out about the woman, and you came to tell me that you don't agree." Fury said to him guessing that was the reason why Rogers looks so riled up.

"How did you know?" Rogers asked him with a suspicious, angry frown.

"Capsicle, even I can answer that. You look like someone just insulted your mother. You found her, didn't you?" I replied to him, and he ignored me in favor of talking to Fury. It's like a became wallpaper. What's up with people suddenly ignoring me? I wanted for them to not pay much attention to me, so they don't notice that I'm just pretending not to know anything about Mystic, but it's also kind of annoying. Not that I'm not grateful for it, because I am, but they could at least answer me when I say something to them.

"Yes, I found her. Why is that she is locked up in a room completely empty of anything except for her? She is a person, not one of your weapons." He was saying to the Director in a serious, even tone. Now, at least I know why Rogers is angry. I would be angry about that too if I were to have been the one who found her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Girl is finally going to appear in the next chapter. Since Steve found her before Tony, it's going to be from his perspective. Tony's perspective with his reaction to seeing the Girl is going to be in the next chapter after that. I wanted to highlight Thor's reaction to the situation with the Girl in this chapter, so I took the spotlight out of Tony in here.


	40. Steve Rogers – “Now We Have Sleeping Beauty.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve finds the Girl.

I couldn't believe my eyes. It's her, but at the same time is not. The woman from my dreams is here. She is real, alive, ethereally beautiful, and different. She is definitely not human. The girl from my dreams was human, mortal. Yet, even with all the physical differences, I know that she is the same woman. I can't really explain how I know this, but I'm sure of it. The feeling that I get with the girl from my dreams is the same. It is as if my whole being is being pulled towards her, like a gravitational force. Maybe, that's the reason why I know that it is her. She isn't a figment of my imagination. If she is real, then that means that the dreams are real as well. They are not dreams at all. They are memories. I'm recalling someone else's memories. How is that possible?

Right after my argument with Stark, I went to look around the Helicarrier. I wanted to see with my own eyes if Stark is right about what he said. I reached a locked door in one of the lowest levels, but I stopped dead in my tracks when I was about to try to pry open the door. I started to feel that same sensation I get in my dream when I am near her. The feeling would always guide me to her location when she is near. It was so strong that I tried to smell the air to see if I could locate her the same way that I would do in the dreams. Trying to locate her by scent would be impossible, of course. I'm not a dog demon like in my dreams. I settled on following the strange sensation instead. I turned one corridor, and the sensation lessened, but when I turned in the opposite direction, it intensified. I continued going like that until I found myself in front of a locked door that could only be opened with a code from the outside. I pried the door open, and she was there, right in the middle of the room.

She is sleeping and floating in some sort of white translucent and shimmering energy bubble. I was so entranced by the sight that I was walking towards her even before I registered that I was moving. The energy shield pulsed three times and then disappeared right before I was about to touch it. Even after the shimmering bubble dissolved, she continues to float in the air as if suspended in place by invisible wires. Her face is the same as the woman in my dreams. The other features are different. It is as if someone had refined everything about her, and erased all of the little imperfections. Her skin is pale, flawless, and smooth like ceramic, and her hair is the wrong color. It should be raven black and shorter.

The woman from my dreams is beautiful in a natural, tangible way. This woman is even more beautiful, but her beauty is unnatural and ethereal. It reminds me of one of those demons from my dreams. She looks like one of those artfully crafted Chinese dolls. One of those made of ceramic, expensive, and so delicate that I wouldn't want touch it for fear that I would break it. Her outfit is also different. This girl's clothing implies a high social status. Everything about this woman, from her perfectly manicured painted fingernails, to her clothing, scream wealth, maybe even royalty.

I had an almost overwhelming impulse to touch her and feel the smoothness of her skin. I stopped myself before my fingers made contact with her when I noticed that I had raised my hand towards her, wanting to reach her. Just like when I was walking towards her, her presence seems to tempt my body to act on its own before I become aware of its actions. I'm feeling the same sense of warmth and contentment I feel around her when she appears in my dreams. I'm also feeling the same type of intuitive, automatic response I had when I met the others. However, this is much more intense than with the others. Additionally, I'm feeling a yearning desire that I didn't feel around the others, except for Bucky after a few years of being constantly around him. I started walking backward, suddenly alarmed and disturbed by the intensity of my emotions and my response to her presence, trying to put some distance between her and me, but unable to make myself look away from her or leave the room.

I continued to walk backward until I hit the wall. I leaned against it, and stayed there with my back against the wall for a moment, staring at her like an idiot, and unable to will myself to wave my gaze from her form for even a second. After a few minutes, the overwhelming intensity of my feelings seemed to lessen to a somewhat manageable level. When I was finally able to get a hold of myself again and to stop staring at her like an obsessed creep, I looked around the room and realized that other than her, the room is completely empty. There isn't even a chair in here. It's as if the room is a storage containment, and she is an object or a weapon.

Based on energy bubble that I saw around her, and that she is floating in the middle of the room, I would bet that it is the later. Why do S.H.I.E.L.D have her here? Is S.H.I.E.L.D responsible for her unconscious state? I also realized that she is probably what Loki was referring to when he mentioned about the power that's wrapped in a pretty and fragile package. I became angry when I come up with the conclusion to why she is here, how S.H.I.E.L.D. is keeping her locked up in this room, and that she is the reason why Loki is here. She is what Fury is keeping from us. Stark is right. Fury had known this whole time the reason why Loki is here. I walked out of the room and went to look for Fury to confront him and demand an explanation. As I walked away from her, I started to experience a new sense of loss that intensified the farther I went. I continued walking forward willing myself to ignore it. By now, I'm very familiar with the sensation, and I know how to manage it better.

I found Fury, Stark, Thor, and Doctor Banner in the hallway outside the lab. Something stroked me as not right when I saw them. Thor looks agitated. Stark seems like a hyperactive kid that's about to be let loose in a candy shop, and Fury appears to be angry. The only one that looks to be acting normal is Doctor Banner.

"Fury, I need to talk to you," I said to him as soon as they came within earshot.

"Let me guess. You found out about the woman, and came to tell me that you don't agree." Fury replied.

"How do you know?" I asked him narrowing my eyes in suspicion at him. Something isn't right. Why are all of them here? Where are they going?

"Capsicle, even I can answer that. You look like someone insulted your mother. You found her, didn't you?" came Stark's reply. I ignored him and kept my attention on Fury.

"Yes, I found her. Why is that she is locked up in a room completely empty of anything except for her? She is a person, not one of your weapons. Is she what Loki was referring to when he was giving that speech about true power? Is S.H.I.E.L.D. responsible for the state that she is in? And why did you keep something like that from us?" He better gives me a good answer because there is going to be a serious problem if I don't like what he tells me.

Thor looked indignantly at Fury. "You said she is not being kept as a prisoner. You lied to me. Has she been harmed?" He said to the Director, losing the nervous edge and becoming angry.

"I have every intention of letting her out of that room when she wakes up. As for the state that Captain Rogers is mentioning, as I said before I found her like that. The Girl doesn't have a scratch on her. Now, can we continue on our way? I don't want to answer any more questions until you see her." The Director answered him not being intimidated at all by the Asgardian. Thor nodded his head accepting the Director's answer and resumed walking. Apparently, that's what they are doing out here. They are on their way to see her.

Stark approached me. "She must be someone of significant importance on Asgard. Thor is making a big fuss about it. He implied that she is very powerful, and he mentioned some protector of hers who is going to come and pretty much tear the place apart until he finds her. Anger management issue much?" He said to me. He looks gleeful with barely contained excitement.

"We will see," I told him refusing to comment about the Girl.

When we reached the room, Director Fury entered in the passcode and let us inside. I saw Doctor Banner's surprised expression, and then his face relaxed, and he smiled. I noticed that the feeling I had when I found her is still present and just as intense, but now I'm not being completely overwhelmed by it as before.

Stark let out a surprised exclamation. "Ooh. Wow. She is….. Like a fairy tale princess." He looks entranced at that moment. His full attention is on her.

"She is unharmed. Good. I thought you said that she was enveloped in an energy shield." Thor said letting go of his outrage and relaxing his posture in apparent relieve.

"Yes. I don't see anything either." Stark said. His gaze still hasn't wavered at all from the Girl.

"She had the shield when I came in, but it disappeared when I approached her," I replied to him. There is something about him. I'm feeling the same kind of pull and intuitive response that I did when I met Bucky and Agent Romanoff. When I look at him, I'm reminded of the Monk. A man who is knowledgeable and highly intelligent, charismatic, and dangerous. The Monk wasn't dangerous in the way Sango or I were. He was dangerous in the same way Naraku was dangerous. This isn't because he was bad or malicious, but because he would be able to calculate his opponents moves and predict their plans. In a way, Miroku was more dangerous than Sango, me, or Kagome. This man next to me would be ten times more sharp and dangerous than the Monk. He would consider every possible scenario and possibility and plan accordingly. He will always be ten steps ahead of his opponents. I pity anyone who gets on his bad side because he would ruin and destroy that person completely.

As I look at Stark, I noticed that for a brief moment, as he looked at the Girl, his whole demeanor changed. His gaze turned sad and soft. There is recognition in his eyes, longing, and fondness. A soft smile appeared on his lips. His posture relaxed and lost the gleeful energy. Then, his gaze turned heated with desire and hunger for a few seconds. He started to lean forward and lift his right arm slowly but seemed to snap out of it quickly. After that, his bearing went back to being similar to before. The difference is that now all the excited, manic energy seems to have left him and be replaced by a relaxed, contented posture. This is the first time I see the man lose that hyped up edge that seems to be a fixed part of his personality.

I noticed him flex his hand and then put both hands in his pockets. I wouldn't have caught it if I wasn't paying particular attention to him to try to pinpoint the reason for this illogical feeling I got from him and Agent Romanoff. I don't think anyone else noticed it since they are all focused on the Girl. I don't have a doubt that he is feeling the same type of pull towards her that I feel, but he was able to get over the initial overwhelming reaction a lot faster than me.

"Ooh. I see. The treasure can sense ill will towards her. She dropped the shield barrier around her when the Captain came in because she felt that he did not have any intention of harming her. It is very fortunate that she did so because her shield barrier is known to be able to destroy completely anything that comes into contact with it." Thor said.

"You mean that she is aware of everything that happens around her, even if she is in that state?" Director Fury asked Thor. "Yes." The Asgardian answered him. "I know that you said that she is not a threat, but are you sure that she will help us defeat the Shitauri?" Fury asked him.

"I'm most sure," Thor responded.

"I guess that we will find out when she wakes up." Fury said.

"Don't tell me that you still think that she is a threat? It's obvious that she is one of the good guys. What kind of villain would plan world domination, and make their debut looking like a china doll wearing a white kimono with flowers on it? That just makes for bad PR. Nobody would take her seriously. If she is really a villain, then she is a bad one. Besides, she looks to me more like an Asian version of sleeping beauty. She even has the crown to go with the whole sleeping princess' theme. What would rock of ages want with the Asian version of Princess Aurora anyways? She doesn't look any threatening or dangerous to me." Stark said. Leave it to him to say that she is good based on her outfit. He may be trying to hide his response to the Girl with wit and sarcasm, or maybe I'm projecting, and he is just being obnoxious because that's part of his personality.

"Don't be fooled by her appearance," Thor said. I noticed that Doctor Banner hasn't said anything yet, but his reaction surprised me none the less. He is standing still with his eyes closed and a wide smile on his face.

"Sleeping beauty as you are calling her came through a portal and managed to stop and absorb some of the power of Loki's spear. She survived without a single scratch an explosion that leveled the whole J.D.F.E. facility and caved in everything within five miles. She got the facility caving in and burying her under more than a hundred feet of rubble and concrete, managed not only not to get crutch under all of that and was completely unharmed, but also came out without a single spot of dirt in that pristine outfit of hers. On top of that, she disintegrated all of the rock and concrete that fell on her. All while in the state of sleep that you see her at. I would say that makes her quite dangerous." Fury replied to Stark's comment.

"And she didn't wake up after all of that ruckus? The girl is a seriously heavy sleeper." Stark replied. Never mind that I thought that Stark might be trying to hiding his connection with the Girl. The man is obnoxious. Period. That's all there is to it. This is the reason why I'm questioning the sense of connection I feel with the man. He is irritating.

"You don't take anything seriously. Do you?" I said to him.

"Of course I do. Anyways, how do we wake her up? Does she need to be kissed by a handsome billionaire or something? I volunteer of course. I'm totally up for it." Stark said with a little smirk.

"It looks like she is in an eternal sleep. Unless she was placed under the spell by someone else, she is going to wake up on her own. If she was placed under the spell, the one that placed the spell on her is the only one that can wake her. She; however, may not wake up soon." Thor said ignoring Stark's comments about the kiss.

"What do you mean by not soon?" I asked Thor.

"In most cases, it takes years, sometimes decades, or even centuries, for someone to wake up from an eternal sleep." He answered.

"So, this is the Immortal's version of a coma. Well, now we have sleeping beauty, in addition to two alien princes, one of which is the male version of Maleficent. I think that earth is becoming quite popular with alien royalties. We should start charging them for every visit." Stark said.

"I find curious that Agent Hill said something similar to me about the girl not being evil based on her appearance. She also mentioned that earth is becoming a popular destination for alien royalty after we got the Girl out from the hole she made in the facility." The Director said.

"Finally, someone else around here who knows what she is talking about," Stark said.

"Apparently, everyone seems to think that the Girl must be friendly because she is wearing a kimono with flowers on it." Fury said.

Doctor Banner, who up until now still haven't talked, didn't point out her kimono as the reason why he thinks she isn't hostile. "I don't feel any hostility from her. What I do feel is a sense of peace. I hadn't felt something like this since before the accident that resulted in the other guy. I want to sit here forever and never move. This is so wonderful." He sat crossed legged on the floor and closed his eyes with a wide smile after he said that.

"Needless to say that I trust Banner's judgment better than the others. Finally, someone gave me a reason that makes sense, instead of the, she is wearing a white kimono with flowers, so she must be good, nonsense that seems to be what everyone is thinking." Fury said.

After that, I heard Agent Romanoff voice over the radio. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab. I'm on my way."

"Romanoff come to the storage section, and meet us in room A-135." Fury said over the radio.

We all looked at doctor Banner after that. "Well. Somehow that doesn't surprise me. I also doubt that his plan is going to work very well if I'm feeling so relax. If her presence hadn't had the other guy so calm, it would have worked. I can feel him, and I will venture to say that he is humming with contentment." Doctor Banner said still looking very relaxed.

"He obviously wants to use the Hulk as a distraction to look for princess sleeping beauty." Said Stark.

"What I'm wondering is how it's Loki planning to escape from the cage. It's not like anyone is going to just open the door for him." I asked.

"Loki isn't going anywhere for now." He said to the rest of us. To Doctor Banner, he said, "Since the girl's presence seems to calm you, I would suggest that you stay close to her for now. Doctor Banner."

"Not a problem." The Doctor easily agreed.

"We need to get the Living Gem away from here. If Loki manages to escape from his cage, get a hold of the scepter, and locate her, then everything will be lost. He doesn't need an army if he is controlling her, and now that her energy barrier is gone, she is vulnerable while she is in that unconscious state." Thor said.

"For the moment, she is going to have to stay here. She is going to be safer in the presence of the Avengers than anywhere else." Fury said.

We heard a knock at the door, "Director I'm at the room A-135, but the door is locked." Agent Romanoff said over the radio.

Stark who was the one next to the door opened it. "Come in Agent." He said to her and got out of the way to let her enter.

"Why are all we all….Ohh…I see why now. Does the levitating, sleeping woman has anything to do with why Loki let himself get captured that easily? He looks pretty comfy for a prisoner. What do you know about her? Sir. She doesn't look like an Asgardian unless they also have pointy ears and wear short kimonos, that is." Romanoff said after she recovered from her momentary surprise. I wonder if she just doesn't feel the effect of the connection, or if she is that good of an actress.

"We don't know much about her other than the fact that she came through a portal right after Loki. She is powerful. Loki wants to control her. She is known as the Living Gem. Thor says she isn't hostile, and she is apparently under an eternal sleep spell, which is the immortals' version of a coma." The director said.

"I thought I had seen everything. Now, we have Asgardians with magic spears that can brainwash people and Princess Aurora. First, we are being visited by gods, and now we are getting fairy tale characters. Things are starting to become weirder by the day." Romanoff said.

"I do not know what faery tales are, but I heard that she was worshipped as a goddess by your people," Thor said.

"So, she is another goddess. Which goddess is she?" Stark asked. I wanted to know that as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here you have it. Tony's POV is going to be in the next chapter. Also, Tony's initial reaction to seeing her. Out of all the things he could have said, he said that. Lol. You have already seemed that I'm a fan of having the "Girl" be known by multiple identities. In this story, she is a few thousand years old. She adopted another identity after she was changed. She is going to explain to Tony all about it when she awakens, and he learns her true origins and her real name. Don't expect anyone to call her by her original name in here. Though, her real name is going to be mentioned or referred to from time to time by the very few people that know her true origins.
> 
> The particular myth I borrowed for her identity as a goddess is Egyptian. All the similarities between some of the Egyptian gods, some of the Inuyasha's universe characters, and the plot of this story are very similar. I couldn't resist adding it, especially considering that Marvel is using Norse mythology characters already.
> 
> The Egyptian myth is a few thousand years older than the Girl, but when you have a time-traveling portal in your backyard and weapons like Tensaiga which have teleportation's powers, a little issue like inconsistencies in the timeline can be easily explained. I never understood why is it that Sesshomaru never used the sword's teleportation power when it became evident that it has it. It doesn't make sense to me that the sword could only teleport him to another location to protect him when he was in mortal danger, and he never tried to master the power, so he could try to use it whenever he wanted.
> 
> It would make sense that the "Girl" would be considered a goddess in some planets considering how old she is, the type of powers she has, and the fact that she is the only known Living Gem in existence. Her being the Living Gem alone would give her a goddess like statues because of the origins of the Infinity Stones. Add immortality and holy powers to that, and you have instant godhood in the eyes of a lot of people. I did give a little hint about this plot point when Tony was having the flashback scene of their second meeting, and they were talking about God. She said to him during that flashback that she is viewed as a goddess by some civilizations.
> 
> Here you can also see that although the "connection" they share with each other draws them towards each other, they're also still going to respond to the others the same way they would normally. That means that they can still also dislike and crash with someone they have this connection with like Tony and Steve, Natasha and Tony, etc. Finally, I don't think Bruce is going to be feeling as content when the Girl wakes up and the Hulk starts to sense her demonic side close to the surface.
> 
> Let me know who you think is the Egyptian goddess character I'm going to use for the Girl. The next chapter is coming up next week. Things are going to become a lot more interesting when she wakes up.


	41. Awareness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Steve find out the Girl's identity.

**Tony Stark - Awareness**

* * *

Like a fairytale princess. Seriously! How eloquently. Out of all the things in the world I could have said, I ended up saying that.

Seraphine said that close physical proximity with a bond so strong could be overwhelming, but God I didn't expect it to be this much. Thank god I had the forethought to enter the room last and stay behind the others when we went through the door. I noticed that as we neared the room Mystic is at I could feel some kind of pull as if some sort of invisible force was pushing me in that direction.

As soon as I stepped through the door, I felt this bond Seraphine mentioned. For a moment, those first few seconds when I entered the room and felt the pull and the overwhelming intensity of the feeling that the connection created with the close physical proximity between us, everything else except for her ceased to exist. My whole awareness was completely focused on her. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I think that I was lucky to be still able to put together any coherent thoughts at the moment let alone speak. So, of course, I said the first thing that came to my mind.

I was immediately hit with a sense and calmness and ease and something else, belonging. I felt my body letting go of all the tension it has been feeling in the last few hours. My whole awareness was wholly focused on her. Did it hut when she was put under the spell? Is it hurting her now? Can she hear us now? She is so close and yet not close enough, not in the way I would like her to be. I wanted, needed to touch her, feel her pulse, make sure that she is real, trace that smooth skin with my fingertips, my lips. I caught myself leaning forward, lifting my hand towards her.

Then, I heard Thor's voice. His voice sounded as if he was talking from another room, coming from far away instead of just a few feet away. I had to make a real effort to hear what the others were saying and follow the conversation. That's what got me out of my trance. I aborted my movements, and put my hands in my pockets to stop them from trying to reach out again.

For the briefest of a moment, I allowed myself to admit at least to myself something I haven't admitted to anyone, not even to myself. Being here, feeling the intensity of the connection between us, I could no longer deny the truth. This is much more than physical attraction, or just an obsession.

I forced myself to speak, to try to act as I normally would with sarcasm and deflection. Act normal. I couldn't make myself look away from her, but I have gained enough control to at least follow the conversation with the others. How I'm I going to manage to keep our connection hidden if I can't even stop staring at her like a creep when I'm near.

* * *

**Steve Rogers - The Neo-Celestial Queen**

"She is the queen goddess of light, nature, magic, and the stars. She is a protector of the realms, the Living Gem, and the treasure of the nine realms. She whom is protected by the great Canis and enthrones kings is the Neo-Celestial Queen." Thor said.

"Not just any goddess then, a queen goddess. I'm assuming that this great Canis protector is the probably very pissed off individual that is going to be looking for her once he realizes that she is missing. Just what we needed another royalty that managed to land on our planet and is going to be causing more trouble." Fury said.

"Pissed off protector? I obviously missed the part of the conversation when that was explained." Said Romanoff.

"Don't worry red; because, I'm here to explain that to you. The very pissed off protector is, according to Thor, a very powerful individual that is always with queen Aurora here. Well, obviously that part is incorrect because he is definitely not here now, so Thor was wrong about that." Stark said.

"Stark, get to the point. I don't have the whole day." Romanoff replied impatiently to him.

"Fine. Apparently, this great Canis person is going to destroy everything in his way to her, and he is more powerful than all of us combined." Stark said to Romanoff, and to Thor, he said smiling. "By the way. Thor, I figured out who she is. I got the clue when you said queen goddess of magic, but the one who enthrones kings and the Canis protector gave it away."

"Care to share. Stark." Fury said, with an annoyed expression after Stark stopped and didn't seem to want to elaborate.

To say that I wanted to know who she is was an understatement. I wanted to know everything that I could about her. This new information didn't match my dreams. I'm very disappointed. There is no possibility of this woman being the Girl from my dreams. This woman is a goddess, a queen, while the girl from my dreams is mortal.

"The goddess queen of nature, magic, and the stars was Isis. She is known for being the goddess of the stars and became the goddess of magic when the myth of the resurrection of Osiris was created. She is also known for being the goddess of nature because she is said to be a goddess of creation. She is said to be the goddess who enthroned the pharaohs. It is believed that her name means "Throne-mother of the gods." I guess that this is really what it means when the Egyptians referred to her as the queen mother. Meaning that she was called that because she is a queen goddess and not because she is Horus mother. That resolves the whole contradiction that says that Hathor was also known to be Horus mother. Finally, her symbol is Sirius, the dog star, which is situated in the Canis Major constellation, the big dog, or in this case the great dog. I assume that Canis is not really the name of her protector. We have the queen of all royalties in the house." Stark explained smiling smugly.

"You are correct," Thor said. The great dog. Her protector. Could it be that I wasn't wrong before about her? If that's correct, then, how did she become a goddess and the queen of gods? A spark of hope was starting to bloom in my chest at the prospect of being correct.

"What I still don't get is why she is the one who enthrones kings? That would explain why Loki wants her thought." The director said.

"I assure you that is only one of the reasons why my brother wants the queen. She is not known as the Living Gem because of this reason, though." Thor replied.

"Why is she called that then?" Romanoff asked him.

"That I cannot say without the queen's permission."

"You still haven't said how she enthrones kings," I said to Thor.

"The reason of how is the same as to why she is called the living treasure."

"Meaning that you are not going to say. You haven't said what a Neo-Celestial is. I bet that's the reason why she is the known as the queen goddess." Stark said thoughtfully, losing his previous excitement.

"I cannot say," Thor replied to him.

"You are very frustrating. Do you know that?" Stark said to Thor who's only response was a small smirk.

"At least, we now know a little more about her. She must be a magic user and probably also have elemental powers. Her powers must also be related to light since there is no mention of her being the goddess of light anywhere. If I ask are you about that, are you even going to respond?" Stark asked Thor. The demigod moved his head from side to side as an answer. "That's what I thought," Stark responded frowning at Thor and looking disgustingly at him.

At that moment, Coulson called over the radio. "Director Fury there is an unidentified object coming towards the Helicarrier at high speed." We all tensed up after hearing that.

"Then, shut it down. What is it?" The director replied.

"The object is long and thin like a missile, but the radars say that it isn't any type of explosive weapon. It doesn't have any energy signal that we know, and it's moving too fast for us to be able to shut it down." Coulson replied over the radio.

"I'm on it," Stark said, opening the door and running to get to his suit.

"Stark is going to try to intersect it. Get everyone prepared for impact. How long do we have before impact?" The director asked Coulson.

"Sir. Stark may not reach it on time. The object will be here in less than three minutes." Coulson said.

"Romanoff I need you to go to the labs and patch a remote link to the lab's computers so Banner can monitor and use them remotely." Director Fury said to her.

"Yes, Sir," Romanoff said and then walked out.

"Coulson. I'm on my way." The Director said over the radio.

"Thor, I need you to stay here in case she awakens. It's better if she sees someone she knows. Banner, stay here with Thor. If we are going to be under attack, then, the last thing we need is the Hulk providing Loki with the distraction that he needs." He said.

"I shall stay. That would allow the queen to be more at ease is true." Thor said.

"I don't want to move from here anyway so that will be no problem." Banner said.

"I want to stay as well, I'm not needed anywhere else and is better if we have the extra support in case anyone wants to get to her," I said to Fury.

"Ok. Captain." Fury said, and then he walked out as well. I had another reason for wanting to stay other than to protect her, but I didn't voice it.

Banner and I started to sit down against the walls since there wasn't anything in the room to grab on to. Thor remained standing with a serious expression. "If this is in fact what I think, then, the object that is coming is not of this world. The man of Iron is not going to be able to stop it." He said to us.

"Can you stop it?" I asked Thor.

"Even I don't possess the power to stop the sword of protection." He replied. Sword of protection? This can't be what I think it may be. It has to be a coincidence.

"You mean to tell us that this thing is a sword. Why is it coming towards us?" Doctor Banner asked.

"The sword is coming for her," Thor said gesturing with his head in the direction of the woman, Isis. "The sword isn't going to attack the Helicarrier." He finished saying.

"How do you know that?" I asked him.

"The sword is a sentient weapon that was created to protect mortals. It's not going to harm humans unless they pose a threat and are trying to harm its master." I know of a sword that matches that description perfectly. Even I have to admit that there are too many coincidences.

"I don't think…." I was saying before I stopped mid-sentence. A small tear appeared in the air on the right side of the Girl. The rip was about the length of my arm and around 6" wide.

Next to me. I heard Doctor Banner let out a surprised, loud inhaled of breath. "Is that a tear in the time-space dimensional fabric? I must be dreaming. If this a dream, please let me continue sleeping." He said smiling and in an excited tone.

"This isn't a dream," I told him. I wish I could share his excitement. I could feel a sense of increasing trepidation starting to rise in the pit of my stomach.

"Don't call the Director yet. If the queen awakens, she will feel less threatened with fewer people near. The director is also going to start asking her questions, and it will get her guard up." Thor said in a low, careful tone and ignoring our comments. At least I'm not the only one that's feeling unsettled about this.

"Ok," I managed to say to him. A long samurai sword with a metal handle wrapped in leather started to come out of the tear. I recognized it immediately. Tetsaiga. The rip closed and disappeared once the sword came through the portal. That means that the sleeping Girl is….. Kagome. I didn't imagine her. She is real, and so are my dreams. That means that Inuyasha is dead, and I'm his reincarnation. The dreams are not dreams. They are memories, but how? Why do I have my previous incarnation's memories? I know for a fact that isn't supposed to happen, so why? How? Something isn't quite right about that. I started to relax and be at ease again. I was relieved to see that Tetsaiga was the only thing that came out of the rip. I know that Thor is right and the sword won't attack anyone without being provoked.

We all were so surprised to do anything else other than to look up in wonder as the whole thing was taking place. "It's a sword alright." Doctor Banner said sighing and looking crestfallen. He must be disappointed that now that the rip disappeared he lost the opportunity to study it.

I noticed that a platinum chain was rising from the Girl's neck and pulling upwards to reveal what looked like a miniature wooden sword sheath the length of my hand that was attached to the end of the chain and was hidden from view by her kimono. That is Tetsaiga's sheath. That's why the sword is here. The sheath summoned it. The sword must have gone through the well to get to here. Is the sword acting on its own, or did Kagome… Isis somehow get the sheath to summon the sword?

The sheath broke free from the chain and started to expand and grow until it gained its regular size. The sword moved to sheathed itself. Then, a small shockwave emanated from the sword and then contracted into the sword again.

"I don't like that." Banner said frowning and looking warily at the sword.

"Thor, what is it doing?" I asked him.

"I think it's trying to wake her," Thor said.

"I thought you said that Ka… Isis isn't a threat to us. You look like you are worried that she may wake up." I said to him noticing he looks kind of nervous.

"I'm pleased that the queen is about to awaken. I'm not wary of that. I'm worried about the reason why the sword is here. If the sword of protection is here, it means that the queen's protector, its wielder, will be here soon. He may become quite displeased if he finds the queen in the state she is in." He replied.

Based on Thor's scared expression, I assume that Kagome's Canis protector is someone one would definitely wouldn't want to mess with. Since I know that Inuyasha is dead, I can only think of one person that fits the description. The great dog, someone who would be able to wield the Tetsaiga, and who mere mention would make someone like Thor, who is considered a god by many civilizations, be scared, has to be his brother, the white-haired Taiyoukai Lord.

The pulsing of the sword continued like this, expanding and contracting like a heartbeat. Then, the Girl started to do the same. First, the sword pulsed and then the Girl did the same right after, emanating an expanding and contracting white energy wave. By this time, Doctor Banner and I had risen from the floor, and we are both standing still, waiting to see what will happen.

Doctor Banner asked the question I was too curious about but didn't want to voice out loud. "Who is this protector you keep mentioning?"

Thor looked at Banner and then at the sword and the girl, silently debating for a few seconds if he should reveal that information. Then he sighed and shrugged his shoulders in apparent resignation. "He is the queen's first husband. Lord Osiris. The king of the afterlife. To tell you the truth I think that King Osiris coming here to retrieve queen Isis is a much more preferable outcome than for the Neo-Celestial king to do so. King Set is known to react quite violently to any perceived threat against the queen, which is the reason why the three of them decided many centuries passed that king Osiris would be the one to look after the queen's safety." He said still looking intently and warily at K... Isis. That isn't reassuring at all.

I have to stop thinking of her as the mortal woman from my dreams. It's evident that a lot of things happened that I don't remember. This Girl in front of me isn't the Girl I remember. Neither Doctor Banner or I replied to Thor's comment. Both of us were looking contemplatively at the queen, immerse on our thought, and mulling over what we heard. After a few more pulsing beats, the sword stopped, and Girl's beat continued twice more before also stopping. Her fingers moved.

"Looks like she is starting to wake up. I know that this may not be the best time to say this, but I'm starting to think that it may be better if she doesn't wake up right now. I have a feeling that if she wakes up things are going to become a lot more complicated than what they already are." The doctor said. I hate to admit it, but I don't think he is wrong about that.

"The queen awakening from the eternal sleep is preferable than the alternative. I'm most confident that she will assist us in fighting against the Chitauri and retrieving the Tesseract once she is made aware of the situation." Thor answered the doctor's comment.

"Thor. I hope that you are right about her." I said as the Girl opened her eyes.

She raised herself to an upright position floating in the air, and then looked in our direction. Her eyes immediately locked on me. Her eyes are a golden honey color, beautiful and inhumanly unnatural just like the rest of her. Something about the color stroke me as wrong even though it was familiar. For some reason, I couldn't stop feeling like they were supposed to be another color, not the warm brown color of the Girl from my dreams, but another color. Her expression turned angry, and my heart skipped a beat. She stared at me for a few seconds, and then she turned her attention to Thor.

I saw as Thor posture changed, taken aback and becoming nervous as if he were scared. He quickly bent over and kneeled in front of her. He lowered his head looking at the floor. "Your majesty." He said in a low tone with his head still down.

Doctor Banner and I just stood there looking at her in surprise. Now that she is awake, I understand why Thor is so nervous being around her. Even I with my weak human senses, I can feel the massive presence of her power. I can feel it like a static current in the air, enveloping my body, and pressing into every inch of my skin like water. I could feel that unnerving feeling appearing again. The way that I can feel her power pressing insistently against my skin is starting to set me on edge. This isn't how its supposed to feel. I remember being in her presence and feeling a sense of warmth and peace. Her powers felt like a warm blanket on a cold night, like a soft caress, comforting. This isn't like this. This feels almost angry. I saw a long, thin, triangular shaped purple line running horizontally close to her jawline, and I realized why her powers feel like that now. She is angry and, more than just that, she is also close to being overwhelmed by her demonic blood. No wonder Thor is scared. This is really really bad.

Next to us, I saw Doctor Banner tense up, no doubt being much more sensitive to the queen's powers and feeling the Hulk react to the change in her them. He is flexing his hands.

"Prince Thor. Why are you in Midgard when it has been ordered by the Intergalactic High Counsels not to interfere with its people? Midgard was to stay off limits from contact with other worlds." She said to Thor.

"Forgive me, your majesty. I'm in Midgard because I was sent by the All-Father to resolve a situation concerning Loki. I want to ask for forgiveness on his behalf. I believe that he isn't entirely acting on his own will, and he is being influenced by another." The Asgardian prince said with his head bowed.

"The god of lies and mischief being manipulated by someone else is hard to believe. I will have to see about that for myself. I'm aware of the situation. Eternal sleep allows immortals to be aware of our surroundings after all. Why has the Tesseract been allowed to remain here on Midgard after it was removed from the place it was being kept? I'm going to have a long talk with my husband about keeping things from me. I want a private audience with you later, and I expect to hear a good explanation for this." She said to Thor. I saw his eyes widening when he heard that last sentence. I was feeling a painful tug in my chest. Married. She is married.

"Your majesty my people …" Thor started to say but was interrupted by Isis.

"We will discuss that in private when you are giving me your explanation for Asgard's involvement in this planet." She repeated.

"As you wish your majesty." The Asgardian said in a subdued tone.

"You may rise now. I don't expect for you to kneel in front of me every time we talk while I remain here in Midgard." She said to him, and he got up from his position still looking wary.

Isis attention turned to the Doctor. "Are going to fight me? A fight with one such as you will result in a lot of damage." She said to him, noticing his tensed up posture as if she were stating a fact.

"I try to stay away from confrontations unless they cannot be avoided. I would like for that to remain that way for as long as possible. How did you know about the other guy?" Banner answered her seeming on edge.

"I can sense the presence of a demon in you. Strong and angry. Yet, I don't feel any malice, just anger. Usually, the ones of his kind are weak, but this one is a powerful one. I can feel that he isn't evil. He just has trouble controlling his anger." She said with a little smirk, and the Doctor started to relax his posture. Even though she is clearly angry and on edge, she is making a significant effort to keep the peace. She may have changed a lot from the person I used to know, but her fundamental nature is still the same.

"Are you aware of his actions when you transform into him?" The queen asked him.

"I remember everything that he does, but I can't really control his actions. You don't seem to be wary of me." The doctor replied to her.

"Why would I be? You have given me no reason to be wary." She answered.

"That's not the reaction that I get from most people."

"Those are fools. I don't see any reason to treat you different because you are part other."

"I'm glad to hear that. Doctor Bruce Banner." He said extending his hand for her to shake.

"I'm Isis. It is good to meet you, Doctor Banner." She said shaking his hand. Banner smiled pleasantly and relaxed completely. She must be using her powers to calm the Hulk.

"Just Isis?" He asked her.

"I'm aware that you know about my identity, and I don't like formalities."

"You can call me Bruce then. You seem very well versed in our customs and speech."

She smiled. "This is one the few planets that weren't aware of my existence until today. I visit Midgard quite frequently when I want to step away for from the crown for a while and want to feel like any other regular person. Since in here nobody knows me, I'm free to relax and let go of all my titles and all the attention and responsibilities entitled to them. I believe Midgardians call it taking a vacation. I visit this planet to do that, or at least I used to until recently. Now that your government is aware of my existence, I won't be able to keep my visits anonymous anymore." She said in a dejected tone.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope that this doesn't discourage you from more visits to our planet in the future. Maybe, you can negotiate with the government some kind of agreement regarding that." The doctor told her trying to reassure her. Thor and I have been observing her conversation with the doctor silently. Thor seems to relax a little as he sees that even though the queen is angry and on edge, she isn't being confrontational and is actually trying to put the doctor at ease.

I'm still staring at her like an idiot, keeping still, and trying not to act on the overwhelmingly intense sensation of my connection with her, and the yearning for physical contact a feel around her.

"I may try that." She said to Banner with a little smile.

Then, she turned her gaze at me, and her expression turned angry again. "I… I'm Steve Rogers. It's.." I was nervously introducing myself to her, feeling unsettled by her glare, and trying to break the ice. She interrupted me.

"I know who you are. I also know that you shouldn't be alive. You have something that doesn't belong to you, borrowed power, and stolen strength. You were born to a time that has long past. You are walking this world, because of this power and strength. I see that my husband has been dipping his paws and messing with things that he shouldn't. He had no right to make the kind of decision he did." She said to me. Her voice has a dark edge that wasn't present when she was talking with either Thor or doctor Banner. She was using an authoritative and serious tone while addressing Thor, and an even, friendly tone with Banner. How did she know all of that? I'm sure that she was referring to the serum when she mentioned the stolen power and strength. She was right. I should have died decades ago, and the only reason why I'm still alive is the serum.

"I don't.." I was starting to say.

"Your majesty. I do not understand why you say that the captain has stolen another's strength and power, but he is an ally. Neither of the people in this room means you harm." Thor said kneeling on one knee in front of the Queen. Interrupting my reply, in what looks like an effort to avoid a confrontation.

"Thor this isn't a matter that you should get involved with." She said, her gaze fixed on mine while she replied to him. Then, she turned her head to her side, and I saw her eyes move as if listening to something.

"Wha.." I started to say, but she lifted her hand in my direction indicating to me to be quite without turning her head to look at me. "He is almost here." She said and turned around with her back to us.

"Who is almost here?" Banner asked her.

At that moment, the sword, which was still floating in the air in the same place it was after it came and started to pulse like a heartbeat, unsheathed itself. It made a quick slash in the air, which created another rip in the air, this time about 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide.

"King Osiris." The answer came from Thor, instead of Isis who is silently observing the rip.

"Uuuh. That sword is really starting to get on my nerves. Time-space dimensional rips are starting to lose their appeal now." Banner said staring at the tear and apparently deciding that sating his scientific curiosity of studying opened dimensional rips isn't worth having to deal with whatever or whoever comes out of them once they open. Nobody answered his comment. Everyone attention was focused on the tear and the person who was stepping through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about changing the Girl's name because of its association with the name of the middle eastern terror group, but I decided to leave it like that. I'm planning on doing a plot twist related to her myth, and if I have her being someone else it won't work. Plus, there are so many parallels with that particular Egyptian myth that are related to the story. I know that I'm making her be too powerful. She isn't going to stay like that for long. It's part of the background history and why she is so well known.


	42. "Oh, oh, I knew Banner was Right when he Mentioned that Things Would Become a lot More Complicated if she Wakes up."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Osiris appears.

A man wearing a red and black Japanese traditional outfit, with shoulder-length, white hair, and white dog ears appeared. "Hey, Isis! You don't look like you need rescue." He said smiling in a cheerful tone as he was stepping out of the rip in the air, which closed after he walked through it.

Thor quickly kneeled on one knee again but stayed silent this time. I could see that he seemed more tense and wary now.

"Osiris," she said to him angrily. His expression turned serious and alert.

"Why are you.." He was saying but stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the other occupants in the room. His eyes narrowed when he noticed Bruce. However, when he saw me, his eyes widened in surprise for a few seconds. When he saw Thor, his eyes narrowed again. "Thor," he said to the Asgardian prince. "King Osiris," the Asgardian said looking down at the floor.

Osiris turned his gaze back towards the queen. He brought both hands in front of him and opened them, palms facing in her direction in a pacifying gesture. "Isis, I don't know what you are so angry about, so can you tell me what it is before you start yelling at me for whatever it is you think I did?" Seeing how the queen clenched her hands into fists, I'm sure that was the wrong thing to say.

"Riiight, you don't know anything." She said in an even, disdainful tone.

I have a feeling that whatever she is so angry about has something to do with me. The man took a few steps back with his hands still in front of him in that placating manner, and Isis started taking slow, deliberate steps towards him, like a tiger stalking a prey. Next to me, I saw Thor getting up and taking a step back, his grip on the handle of his hammer tightened, and his eyes widened. I know he was thinking something similar to what I was thinking, which was: Oh, oh, I knew Banner was right when he mentioned that things would become a lot more complicated if she wakes up.

"Stop pretending you don't know why I'm so angry," Isis said to him. "You know…" Suddenly, she stopped mid-sentence.

Osiris ears twitched, and his attention shifted from Isis to a point behind her to my right. He is looking at Bruce with a severe expression. Bruce is visibly tensed. He is flexing his hands and is taking deep breaths with his eyes closed. "I think we will have to leave our discussion for later," Osiris said to Isis without taking his eyes from Bruce.

"Don't think that I will let this go easily." She was saying as she turned around and focused her attention on Bruce. "Bruce, neither Osiris or I are going to attack you. I'm only upset with him." Isis said to him in a low, soft tone.

"Woman, talk for yourself. If he loses control of that demon and attacks you, I'm going to shred him into tiny pieces." Osiris said. Now that Isis attention was focused on Banner, I can see that he was relaxing his posture.

Isis narrowed her eyes. "Osiris, osuwari." She said, and the man crashed into the floor with enough force to make a large indentation in the metal. The impact caused a thundering, resounding sound. I flinched, and Thor and I took another step back in alarm. I remember from the dreams how painful the experience was.

Isis remain entirely impassive as the impact was heard. She continued to glance at Bruce as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and she didn't just send a man crashing into the floor with only one word.

"God damn it, woman, I haven't done anything." Osiris was saying as he was picking himself up off the floor and was standing up. His nose was bleeding. "Why the hell do they have fucking metal floors in here? I broke my damned nose." He said holding his nose, resetting it, and looking irked.

"We need to keep him calm, and you are not helping with that," Isis replied to him unfazed.

"Demon, evil, dangerous." Doctor Banner said in a deep tone of voice that wasn't his own, momentarily opening his eyes, which had turned into a bright green, staring at Osiris while he talked, and then closing his eyes again.

"Seriously! You are you feeling threatened by me! I have news for you. This one is much more dangerous to you than me. Her powers can turn you into ashes if they touch you." He said pointing with his right index finger to Isis.

"Bruce, don't pay attention to him." She said in that low, soft tone as she slowly approached him.

"Why are you trying to calm him anyways? Is not as if we can't stop him if he loses control. I wouldn't mind a good fight." The king said grinning widely, apparently forgetting about his crash just a moment ago and losing the guarded edge now that Isis isn't paying attention to him.

"Osiris, if you don't stop goading him, I'm going to make sure you get acquittanced with the floor some more. I don't want the Hulk to appear because this is a flying ship and getting into a fight with him may damage the ship badly enough to make it crash." Isis said in a harsh tone.

He rolled his eyes. "Spoil my fun. I'm sure that you will have him wrapped around those pretty claws of yours in a few minutes." He said with a fond smirk as if what occurred a few minutes ago never happened.

Isis ignored his comment, not wavering her attention from Bruce. "Bruce open your eyes and look at me." She said. Doctor Banner opened his eyes and locked them on hers. His eyes were still bright green.

The queen gave him a closed lipped smirk. "You are only reacting to the Osiris' presence and my spike of demonic powers. That's the reason why you are feeling on edge." She said to him, slowly approaching him and bringing up her hands in front of her in the same pacifying gesture Osiris has previously been using on her.

"Demons are very tactile creatures, but we only touch someone or allowed anyone to touch us if we feel comfortable with that person. For us, touch means calmness, ease, and comfort. Touch and physical contact with someone calm us and keep us grounded." She said to Banner in that soft tone she has only used when talking with him.

"Would you like to help me calm a little? I'm on edge as well, and I'm definitely not going to ask Osiris to do it." She asked him, offering her hand, palm facing up, to him for him to take and stopping from reaching him about a foot away from making contact with him.

Banner hesitated for a moment but reached towards her to hold her hand. The second his hand made contact with hers, he immediately relaxed, all the tension living his body, shoulders dropping. Isis smiled satisfied.

"Thank you." Banner said to her in his normal voice.

"Your welcome." She replied to him and then turned back around to face Osiris.

The god tensed up again. Isis glared at him. She reached into her obi and pulled out a tiny arrow about 6 inches long. The arrow expanded into a regular size arrow. She was taking slow, deliberate steps towards him again.

"Can we talk about whatever this is you want to talk about in private later? We have an audience right now." He asked her, sounding nervous and taking small steps back again.

"And give you time to come up with an excuse? Not a chance. Thor knows better than to say a word of what you and I are going to discuss in here. Asgard has as much to lose as we do if word of what has been happening in here in Midgard gets out. Not only have Seth and you been interfering with the people of the planet in the last century, in the last few years, Asgard's royal family have caused disruptions on this planet as well. This is going to cause a big conflict between the Intergalactic Counsel, the Neo-Celestial Counsel, the Universal Protection Counsel, and Asgard if word of this gets out. Plus, I think that Captain Rogers and Doctor Banner would be very interested in hearing about this. After all, they are directly involved in this matter." Isis said as she continued walking in his direction. Bruce and I turned our gaze on Thor, who is standing still, tense and silent, looking at the queen. Then, we looked at each other with a puzzled expression when she mentioned us.

"I don't understand. How would Captain Rogers and I be involved in a conflict between Osiris and you? We only found out about your existence about thirty minutes ago." Doctor Banner said to her.

"That Doctor Banner is a good question, and you are going to find out how very soon. I'm going to let Osiris explain that." She replied to the Doctor without waving her attention from Osiris. The god sighed and shrugged his shoulders in apparent resignation. Then, his expression turned hard, eyes narrowing and lips pressing tightly together. He didn't reply to her, looking at her with a tense, determined expression. I remember the stubborn determination that is a fixed part of his personality, which I also have. He realized that he isn't going to be able to keep denying whatever it's that Isis is demanding he tells her, but he is also determined not to admit it. This isn't going to end up well.

"I may have the appearance and all the enhanced senses, strength, and power of a full-blooded demon, but in case you have forgotten, I also have the powers and senses of a priestess. Even if my demonic senses didn't pick up another demonic presence because it's hidden by a human aura, my other powers would react to the demonic energy. Did you really think I wasn't going to find out about it? For how long were you planning on hiding it from me? For how long you and Seth have been playing God behind my back?" She asked him angrily, swirling the arrow in her right hand between her fingers.

"What are you talking about?" He asked her, looking at the arrow with the same guarded, cautious posture, and slowly continuing to walk backward until he reached the wall behind him.

"I can't believe you are still trying to deny it. First, Seth cursed me and left me in a dark, empty vault like a piece of furniture for a whole decade. Then, I find out about what you did. Seth is the only person other than you with access to the power to release a soul from the Afterlife. Since your soul is bound to the afterlife, and you can't use that power on yourself, he is the only person who could have done it. Plus, there is no way that Midgardians would have access to not only demon souls, but also their blood to have their DNA altered to be able to house the power and souls of said demons. You and Seth are the only ones with that kind of power, so that means that you and he planned all of it." She said stopping a few feet away from him.

My eyes widened in surprise. I realized that she must be talking about how Doctor Banner became the Hulk and about the serum that was used on me. That must be the reason why Banner transformed into the Hulk when the accident with the Gamma radiation happened instead of dying from being exposed to the radiation like any other normal human would have. I turned my head again to look at him and saw as his eyes narrowed and his shoulders and arms visibly tensed again. He must have realized what I just did. He is silently staring intensely at Osiris now with a murderous expression. He must be refraining from getting involved in the conversation to try to keep calm and avoid an incident with the Hulk.

I know that he must be barely keeping himself from lashing out at Osiris. Transforming into the green giant ruined the man's career and had made his life utterly miserable. I have only known Banner for a few hours, but from our interactions, it's evident how much being the Hulk weights on him and how it has affected him. He must hate transforming into the Hulk, losing control of himself, and causing so much damage, chaos, and destruction. He is now finding out that he has Seth and Osiris to thank for that. I don't know how he is keeping together right now. Though, I have a strong suspicion that Isis is doing something to keep him calm.

This explains so much, the dreams memories that started just after I was injected with the serum, the sudden, slight changes in my behavior, and the intense and at times almost aggressive urge to protect my friends. All those things that I couldn't explain before became clear now. Everything that was already there intensified when I was injected with the Serum just like Dr. Erkein predicted, but what I didn't know was why the Serum worked the way it did. Why did it also intensify emotions and personality traits and not just enhanced my body? Now I have the answer to that. The Serum was made of a demon's blood, and I know precisely who's.

If I have to guess, in Doctor Banner's case, the Hulk is a result of Banner's DNA being altered before he was exposed to the Gamma rays, possibly by his own father who I read was a scientist working for the government and doing research on how to make people stronger and faster. He was cut out of his research when it was discovered that he was testing formulas he made from his research on himself. If Banner senior was testing the formula's on himself before Bruce was conceived, then he would have transferred his altered genes on to his son. If the man wasn't experimenting on himself at the time of Bruce conception, then that means that he was experimenting on his own son, which is just horrifying to think about.

Either Seth or Osiris, or both of them could have gotten the soul of the Hulk from the afterlife and get it to enter Bruce's body when he was a child. Both the demonic genes and Hulk's soul would have remained dormant in Bruce if it hadn't been for the accident which awakened the Hulk and allowed him to take control of Banner's body to save his host's life. This explains why the Hulk and Banner think of themselves as two separate people. They are two separate beings.

I also realized why Isis reacts differently to Bruce and me. She is friendly with Banner, but she seems angry in her interactions with me. She sees Banner as a victim of whatever scheme Osiris and Seth are doing. The doctor is an unwilling participant in what they are doing while I volunteered for my transformation. Bruce's DNA was changed, and he was later possessed by the Hulk without his knowledge or consent. Moreover, transforming into the Hulk ruined Banner's life. He has been hunted like the worst type of criminal and became an outcast since becoming the Hulk. People are afraid of him because of it.

If my reaction when I met Bucky, which is very similar to how I reacted when I met Stark, is any indication, I can say that I was born with Inuyasha's/Osiri's soul. I volunteered to have my DNA changed. The procedure was done with my full consent, and I went into it on my own volition. In my case, it's even worse than that because for Isis it's personal. The strength I now have, which she refers to as stolen, is from someone she trusted, loved, someone who lied to her and may have even help someone who she also trusted and loved to place a curse on her, to betray her. I'm a living reminder of that.

"Vault? What vault? What the hell did Seth do?" Osiris said, and he looked genuinely surprised about it.

If Seth was the one who placed the sleeping curse on her, no wonder she is so angry. From what Thor said, Isis, Seth, and Osiris are or were very close. Thor didn't say what exactly is the nature of their relationship, but he implied that they were at the very least very close friends. Well, he did say that Osiris and Isis had been married. He is her first husband, which means that she may have married again after that. Osiris may have done the same. Thor didn't say what the relationship with Seth was. Though, according to the myth, Seth and Osiris are brothers. Depending on what version of the story one is reading, that is. They are all siblings in one version, or just Seth and Osiris are brothers and Osiris and Isis are married. Anyway, the three of them are supposed to be like a family. A very dysfunctional family with a lot of issues and a very, very complex love-hate rivalry relationship, that is in the case of Osiris and Seth if the myths are at least partially true, but a family nonetheless. Thor did say that Seth tends to become very violent when he thinks that Isis is being threatened, which implies that he is very protective of her, so the two of them must be very close.

That means that Isis was cursed by someone she trusts entirely, loves, and now she wakes up from that curse, and the first thing she sees is me, an undeniable proof that Osiris is also betraying her trust. She must have realized what Osiris had done as soon as she saw me, maybe before. She felt my presence when I found her. That was the reason why her energy barrier dropped when I was getting close to touching it. She was aware of my presence while she was still under the curse. Considering how is evident as she pointed out that Seth and Osiris must have planned the whole thing together, it's easy to conclude that Osiris must have also been in on Seth's plan to curse her.

That's the reason for the hostility she is showing towards Osiris. She is feeling utterly betrayed. I realized that she isn't furious, or at least not only just furious. She must also be feeling deeply upset, hurt. She is letting herself be angry instead of delving into those other feelings. Anger is easier, more manageable at least, undoubtedly preferable than the alternative, than being swept by the sorrow and hurt that accompanies the kind of betrayal she is feeling now. She was placed in a curse which had her completely aware of everything that was going on around her but was unable to move, speak, or see anything, and then she was locked up in a dark place for ten years by someone she trusted. I don't want to imagine how that must feel, how she must be feeling right now. All things considered, she is reacting considerably calm. I would be beating the living daylights out of Osiris right now if I were in her position.

"Stop lying. The two of you have been making plans together and plotting behind my back for decades. You must have been in cohorts with Seth with the plan to place that curse on me. Out of all the people that I thought could betray me, I never expected Seth and you to do it. I just can't believe that this is the one thing the two of you would finally agree and cooperate with each other on. You haven't answered my question. For how long both of you have been plotting behind my back?" She said with an even voice, too calmly, too composed.

Next to me, I can hear Doctor Banner taking deep breaths, visibly tense, trying to keep calm. Thor is on guard looking at Isis and Osiris with unease. He has opted to keep silent and stay out of the discussion. I think that he is trying not to draw attention to himself. From the early conversation between Thor and Isis, I assume that the Asgardians are breaking some kind of rule or law by intervening in our planet and Isis is irked about it because it's going to cause conflicts between her and the other Neo-Celestials, the Intergalactic and Universal counsels she mentioned, and the Asgardians.

"Curse? What curse? What plot are you talking about?" Osiris asked starting to look slightly agitated.

The queen made a low hissing noise of displeasure, and next thing I saw was Osiris being pinned to the wall by an arrow, bleeding heavily from his left shoulder where the arrow went through him, and him swearing while Isis rotated and bent the arrow up to keep the god in place. The whole thing happened in the blink of an eye. One moment, Isis was standing a few feet from Osiris. The next second, the god let out a surprised sharp, pained breath, and she was bending the arrow up and backing calmly away from Osiris like nothing has happened.

"Goddamnit, woman, that fucking hurts. Take this thing out." The god was saying, grabbing the arrow and trying to take it out. The arrow started to glow with a white light, and the god let out a sharp, pained breath. Thor and I got startled and took a few more wary steps back.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I channeled some of my purifying powers into that arrow and enchanted it to release them every time someone pulls on it and try to remove it. It can only be removed by my powers, so you are going to be stuck to that wall until I decide to release you." She said calmly while the god was struggling, burning his hands and shoulder trying to pull the arrow, making low pained, hissing noises, and glaring at her.

Osiris dropped his hands and leaned his head against the wall with a soft thug, sighing and closing his eyes for a few seconds. Then, he opened his eyes, fix them on her, staring at her with haft lidded lashes, and smirking at her with upturned lips.

"I really didn't know about any curse. Seth summoned me yesterday and told me that you had been kidnapped again. I ordered Tetsaiga to go to you and open a portal, so that I could get to you in case you needed assistance. The son of a bitch didn't mention that he placed a curse on you and locked you in a vault for the last decade. I would have sent him to hel the hard way if he had. As for the other thing, I can't say anything about it. I told that mother fucker that you would be completely furious when you found out about it." He said to her shrugging his shoulders.

Isis took a step back surprised by his answer. She kept silent for a few seconds and then replied. "Doesn't matter if you knew, you are going to try to do the same when you learn about the curse. I'm not going to go back under it willingly, and I'm definitely not going back to that vault on my own free will. You are going to have to drag my cold, dead body back to Seth, or place me back under the curse." She said to him.

"Not going to happen." He merely said to her.

Isis shrugged her shoulders. "I know how today is going to end. I'm going to end up dead or back under the curse. Either way, you are going to betray me today. Well, it's said that it isn't a betrayal if you know about it before it happens, so there is that. In the meanwhile, you are not moving from here until I hear from your lips your confession. I'm going to hear the words coming from your mouth even if I must pry them out of you. At this point, I don't care what method I have to use to make that happen, but it's going to happen. I want to know why you and Seth have been meddling in Midgard, and by God, you are going to tell me." She nonchalantly told him as if she didn't just threaten that she may torture the man.

Osiris tensed and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What is the curse Seth placed on you? Did he said anything to you about it when it happened?" He asked her, ignoring what she said about making him confess as if the possibility of being tortured was an inconsequential matter.

"It was an eternal sleep curse. He said something about the safety of the universe depending on me being kept in check and out of the way when he was done placing it on me. I couldn't pay attention to the exact words he said because I was too busy focusing on trying not to lose consciousness." She said shrugging her shoulders as if what she just said is not a big deal.

Osiris eyes widened in surprise, and he began to pull at the arrow, struggling to try to get released from it. "Fuck, you need to get back to sleep. I knew something is wrong with you the moment I saw you. That's the real reason for the demonic markings and the color change of your eyes. I thought that that was because you just found what happened with Rogers and Banner and you are furious at Seth and me. You are close to being overtaken by your demonic side. That's why Seth placed you under the sleeping curse, isn't it? He was trying to keep you contained. That's why you are acting so eerily calm. You are a predator stalking prey, calculating, on guard, waiting for the right moment to pounce. This ship is full of mortals. If you lose control here, this place is going to become a bloodbath." He said, and I can hear the urgency and worry in his voice. Dread started to bloom in my stomach.

Isis turned her face to look behind her at us from the corner of her left eye, no doubt to see our reaction to hearing Osiris statement. Probably expecting either one of us to move in her direction to try to restrain her or attack her. Neither of us moved, knowing better than to provoke her in any way. She smirked, a predatory smile with a hint of teeth, and I saw an elongated fang visible through the gap between her lips.

She turned her attention back on Osiris. "I told you that you would try to get me back under the curse once you found out about it. There is something here I need to protect. I won't allow myself to lose control. By the way, your secret isn't helping with that. He is overwhelming my senses and not in a nice way." She said with the same even tone she has been using since she has awakened.

Dr. Banner and I looked at each other. His posture hasn't relaxed at all. Hearing this, he seemed to tense up even more. He closed his left hand into a fist. I know that he thinks that Isis is referring to him. I know for sure that she is referring to me. The pull of the connection we share combined with the anger she is feeling at the moment, her enhanced senses and her demonic instincts trying to take over must be striking her hard. No wonder she doesn't even want to look at me.

"Are you talking about the you want to… uhhg.. jump him and fuck him senseless against the next available surface… aaahhg, fuck… kind of overwhelming or the you want to slit his throat kind of overwhelming?" He asked still struggling and letting out low yelps of pain in between words when the arrow glows and burns his hands and shoulder more every time he pulls on it.

Isis only response was a roll of her shoulders. Osiris was looking at her with wide eyes. I couldn't look at her face from where I'm standing, but her expression must be giving away her answer.

"Fuck. Stay away from him. Don't even look in his direction. When Seth hears about this, he is totally going to blame it on me, and he is going to have fun taking out my entrails." He said dropping his arms and hitting the wall with his head twice. What does that mean? Which one of the two options is he referring too?

One look at Thor's face told me that he was borrowing one of Osiris swearing words and thinking something similar to what I was thinking. Fuck, how are we going to keep this situation from blowing up? Banner was definitely right; Isis should have been left under the curse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know how you were expecting this chapter to go. Sesshoumaru would be the one that would appear. He would be all angry about Kagome/Isis being kidnapped. She would have to calm him down because he wants to kill everyone in sight. They "talk" about the problem with Loki, etc..
> 
> Of course, I had to do something different. Surprise! Inuyasha isn't dead. Well, he is kind of dead. He is like Kikyo was in the anime. She was dead but not really because she had been resurrected and was walking around and looking like she was alive, but she wasn't really alive. She was undead. Kagome had her soul split in two, and both her and Kikyo existed at the same time.
> 
> The story is repeating itself. This time with Inuyasha and Steve instead of Kagome and Kikyo. Except that this time is a lot more complicated because there is a whole story with Seth and Isis that I'm not going to go into detail right now. It's going to come up later on in this story.
> 
> For the reviewer that pointed out that Tony didn't feel the pull of the connection when he met Natasha. I have to say that I'm happy you noticed it. That is actually an important plot point in the story that is going to come up later on. There is a good reason for it, and it's going to be explained later on in the story.
> 
> I have to issue a warning that from here on things are going to be turning a little dark. There are going to be a few spoilers about things that happened on the past that are going to be mentioned. There are also some dark themes mentioned such as torture, dubious consent, morally ambiguous issues, among others. Most of these things, are going are events that happened in the past, but that have an influence on the things that are happening in the present in one way or the other. There is also a lot a of heavy swearing courtesy of Osiris.
> 
> I thought hard about including mentions of some of the events that happened in the past in this story, but I think that its necessary for the readers to know some of the things that are going on behind the scenes which will answer some questions that you may have about what is going on. I will try my hardest only to include just enough background information for you to have a better understanding of what is going on in the present without spoiling and going into specific details of the rest of the series for you.
> 
> Also, Tony, Seraphine, and Fury are going to be back soon. What Isis, Osiris, and Seth are to each other is going to be clarified in the next chapter. This is the little plot twist that I mentioned that I wanted to include in the story and I needed to have Isis, Seth, and Osiris Myth in order to work. The resurrection of Osiris works perfectly for this story. Please review and tell me what you think.


	43. Tony Stark - "I Have Been Missing all the Good Things Today."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony learns some things about the Neo-Celestial.

I ran towards my suit after we heard Agent call the Pirate Director over the radio about an "unidentified weapon" that was going to hit the Hellicarrier. When I was putting on the suit, I started talking to Seraphine over the Bluetooth piece. "Seraphine, can you patch me to the surveillance in the room Mystic is in?"

"Tony, you know I have an agreement with Director Fury that I wouldn't control any of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems without his permission." She answered me.

"But, you still have access to the Ship's systems, right?"

"I never got out of the system. I just stopped accessing computer files and manipulating the other systems. The Director didn't tell me to get out of the Ship's systems. He told me to stop reading his files and playing with his systems."

"So, you can see the ship's surveillance."

"Yes. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to give you access to it."

"I just need to see her. I finally found her. I have spent the grand majority of the last twenty years looking for her. I only want to see her." I said trustfully to her, letting her hear the desperation in my voice.

At this point, I don't care if she realizes how emotionally attached I feel towards Mystic. The kid is going to figure it out soon. I don't think I'm going to be able to hide it for long anyway. Being in that room near Isis, made a lot of things I have been trying to deny and refusing to admit perfectly clear.

"You are in love with her," Seraphine said as a matter of fact. There it is. The truth.

"Yes," I replied. There is no point in trying to lie to the kid or to continue to try to lie to myself, for that matter.

There was a brief pause. "I will get the Director to give me permission to control his surveillance system."

"Thanks, kiddo," I said smirking.

"I'm transferring the videos to your private servers. I told Director Fury that I wanted to erase and cover all the digital evidence of my Khalilah's and my presence from the Ship's camera and audio surveillance. I didn't mention to him I wanted to also transfer those video and audio files to your private server. He doesn't need to know you will be watching my Khalilah's video surveillance."

"Consider it our secret," I said to her with an amused smirk. Clever girl.

"You have an unidentified weapon to find. I will show you the video when you get back to the ship."

"There is nothing out here. My sensors aren't picking up any heat signal, and I can't see any object approaching." I told her.

"That's because the weapon isn't outside the Hellicarrier anymore. The weapon is inside. Don't worry about it. The weapon isn't going to attack the ship."

"How do you know that? Where is the weapon?"

"I will show you when you get back on the ship. Call the Director and tell him that you didn't find anything. Don't let him know that I told you the weapon is inside."

"Why? Do you know what the weapon is? Where is it?"

"It's another sentient weapon. It's a weapon of protection, like me, and it came looking for my Khalilah. It's with her now. Everyone on the ship is safe."

"Ok. I won't say anything to the pirate, but you have to explain everything to me when I get back." I told her. I trust Seraphine. If the kid is telling me that everything is ok, then there is no reason for me to be worried.

"I will."

JARVIS, you heard what Seraphine said. Connect me with Fury. "Fury, do you copy?"

"I can hear you Stark. Did you find the object? Our scanners lost it. We can't see anything from here." The pirate said.

"I'm outside, and I don't see anything coming this way either, and nothing is appearing on my monitors. I'm going back inside." I said to him.

"Ok. My people are going to continue looking for the thing. Get back inside." He said and cut the communication.

"This was a waste of my time," I complained aloud to JARVIS and Seraphine.

I have been missing all the good things today. First, Captain perfect finds Mystic first. He got to be able to see her and spend some time with her without anyone around. He didn't have to have to hide his reaction to seeing her like I had to do. Then, I have to go out to try to stop the unidentified "weapon" that was supposedly going to hit the Hellicarrier, and I wasn't there to see Mystic waking up.

The thing that irritates me about that is that I wasted my time coming out there because, by the time I was outside the Hellicarrier, the "weapon" had disappeared and somehow teleported itself to Mystic's location inside the Hellicarrier. Plus, I found out when I got back that the "weapon" is a sword that can open Interdimensional portals by making a rip in the time-space dimensional fabric of reality, and I missed seeing that as well.

Of course, Rogers, the lucky bastard, was there to witness the whole thing happening, a once in a lifetime event, a scientific marvel, and he didn't even appreciate it, unlike Bruce who was in awe when it happened. I knew there was a reason why I liked the man with the enraged, giant, and green alter ego. The sword made another tear in the fabric of reality, and a god stepped through it, and I wasn't there to see that either.

Now, I'm inside an empty room and watching what's going on in the room Mystic, and the others are at through a tablet I took from one of Fury's lackeys because Seraphine told me that it's better if I stay away from Mystic in the meanwhile. The kid said to me that my presence is most probably going to make the current argument between Isis and Osiris even worse. I may be able to hide my connection with Mystic and the fact that I know her from everyone else in the Hellicarrier, but I won't be able to hide it from Osiris' demonic senses.

Seraphine said that Isis has broken the agreement Isis made with the Immortal Neo-Celestials to keep their distance and not come into contact with the others they share a bond with. The kid said that Osiris is going to be angry at Isis about it, and he is going to use that against her. This is so frustrating. The only reason why I'm following the kid's advice is that since I convinced her to hijack the camera and audio surveillance in the room they are at, the kid is letting me watch the video.

There is no way I was going to stay out of that room without knowing what it's happening inside. I'm obviously not going to be able to stay inside this room for too long, but Seraphine says that it will be just until Mystic calms down a little.

In the meanwhile, I'm watching the video feed of what is currently happening in the other room in a window, all the events I missed in another window, and spying on the pirate director and the Agent on a third window. The kid is amazing. She is monitoring the surveillance of the whole Hellicarrier, listening in and watching everybody on the ship, and erasing the footage of everything that's related to her and Isis presence in the Hellicarrier.

The kid is clever and sneaky, and after Mystic woke up, I also learned that the kid also has a habit of ears dropping, spying on people, and wanting to know all about every little secret of everyone she comes in contact with. Luckily for me, she really likes me and decided that I would be a good partner in crime. The whole time I have been in this room, she has been telling me a lot of very interesting, little tidbits of information about the immortal Neo-Celestials.

I learned that there are four Neo-Celestials, Isis, Osiris, and Seth, which she calls the three original Neo-Celestials, and Ishtar, who is a new immortal Neo-Celestial whose identity the other three Neo-Celestials have kept mostly hidden from being known. There were four original Neo-Celestial. The fourth one was or is; I'm kind of confused about that part, Horus who was Isis' and Osiris' son. He wasn't their biological son, but they raise him as if he was theirs. Horus died a few thousand years ago and became Anubis. Apparently, the Egyptians confused the two of them and thought that they were two separate gods.

Anyway, Isis resurrected Horus, or she kind of resurrected him. Apparently, she did the same thing that she did with Osiris. She summoned his soul from the afterlife and bonded it to her life force so that he could be alive again. The catch is that a constant supply of life force energy is required in order to revive and to keep alive someone whose soul has already left its body. By bonding Osiris' and Horus' souls to her life force, Isis made it so that each of them would absorve her life energy to sustain their physical bodies. If either Osiris or Horus remained alive for more than twelve hours, they would kill Isis. Isis was able to give them the ability to leave and return to the afterlife whenever they wanted, and they would go back to being dead again the moment that they returned to the afterlife.

A regular person would have died performing the spell to summon and revive a someone, but, thanks to the Soul Gem, Isis has a significant amount of life force. The Gem replenishes her life force whenever she runs out of it, which also means that it also revives her whenever she dies. The Gem also uses its power to regenerate her body and keep it from aging. Seraphine told me that unless Mystic's body is completely destroyed, Mystic can't be killed permanently.

The confusing part about Horus is that close to one hundred years ago he decided to stop being a dead/not really dead/undead god and to have his soul be released from the afterlife permanently so that he could reincarnate as a mortal. He asked one of the Neo-Celestials to seal his demonic and Neo-Celestial god powers so that he could live as an ordinary mortal. I had to ask Seraphine to repeat that part again because I thought I heard wrong when I heard her say the word demonic, but nope. I wasn't hearing wrong. Mystic/Isis, Osiris, Seth, Ishtar, and Horus/Anubis are or were in the case of Horus/Anubis all demons or part demon.

Osiris is haft Inu demon and haft mortal. Seth is a full-blooded Inu demon. Ishtar is a full-blooded demon, haft kitsune and haft thunder demon, Horus was a full-blooded kitsune demon. Mystic is haft demon, of an undetermined species, though Seraphine says that Seth believes that Isis is an elemental nine-tailed kitsune demon, whatever that is, and haft angel. Seth has seemed her demonic transformation a few times that Mystic has been overtaken by her demonic side, and he said that's what her demonic transformation looks like. The kid said that the Soul Gem transformed Isis into a demon when it merged with Isis. The Gem gave her powers from many of the demons whose powers it had absorbed when it was still the Shikon Jewel and evil. That means that she has different demonic powers combined with all the powers of a kitsune demon and the enhanced senses of an Inu demon. Seraphine said that when Mystic realized that the Soul Gem was transforming into a demon, she wished to become an Inu demon after she realized she couldn't stop the transformation. The Gem granted her wish but twisted it, so it gave her the enhanced senses of an Inu, but all the powers of a Kitsune. The Gem gave her the instincts and the physical appearance of both demonic species.

"Why did the Gem do that?" I asked her not understanding how giving Mystic magic powers is something bad.

"The Shikon wanted to punish my Khalilah for thwarting her plans to continue instigating death and chaos and feeding on all the corrupted energy of the souls of everyone who used its powers when my Khalilah destroyed her physical form. Before becoming part demon, my Khalilah was a priestess, a holy person. Moreover, she later discovered that she was also part Angel and that her birth mother had sealed her angelical powers when she was born to protect her and to keep her hidden. My Khalilah was a light being who represented goodness, righteousness, and moral integrity.

The Shikon wanted to punish her by transforming her into the antithesis of everything she wasn't. Demons are dangerous, predatory creatures. Their souls are dark. Even the good, relatively tame demons like Osiris, have a feral side to them. That's the reason why the Gem wanted to change my Khalilah into a demon. It wanted to corrupt her and turn her evil. Plus, holy beings and demons are natural enemies. Turning her into a being that she was born to fight against was the perfect way for the Shikon to get her revenge on my Khalilah.

Since my Khalilah was born with the physical manifestation of the Shikon inside her body, and the Jewel merged her power with her soul, the Gem was able to introduce enough darkness into her soul to be able to change her into a demon. It couldn't corrupt her soul and turn her evil the way it wanted because my Khalilah's holy and angelical powers didn't allow it, but it was able to change her enough to give her demonic instincts. In a way, the dark energy of the Soul Gem and the light energy of my Khalilah's soul balanced out but were unable to neutralize each other. This transformed my Khalilah into a being who is both light and dark, an angel and a demon.

"I understand why the Shikon wanted to transform her into a demon. That part makes sense. What I don't understand it's why it wanted to transform her into a Kitsune demon in particular?" I asked her.

It makes sense. Based on what Mystic told me before, I knew that the Shikon was evil. If I understand what Seraphine is telling me now, apparently the thing was too powerful for Isis's powers to be able to purify it thoroughly. I can assume that Mystic got a hold of the Shikon Jewel and tried to destroy it, but she was only able to eradicate its physical form. The thing probably merged with her soul to gain a host and tried to turn her evil to try to continue to do what it was doing before Isis tried to destroy it. The Shikon probably merged with Isis' soul to try to control her and manipulate her once it managed to turn her evil. Turning evil the one person who was powerful enough to go against it while at the same time getting out of the way the one obstacle that could stop it and gain a powerful host in the process, was a really good strategy. I bet the thing didn't count on the fact that Isis may not have been powerful enough to eradicate it, but she was powerful enough to counteract its powers and gain control of it instead of the other way around.

That explains why Mystic told me that the Soul Gem was the one responsible for her supernatural appearance, but she didn't tell me why or how that was. Now, I know the part of the story about how Mystic became the Living Gem which she didn't get to tell me last night when she was telling me about the Tesseract and its connection to her. What I don't understand it's what could be so bad about becoming a Kitsune demon that Mystic/Isis tried to avoid it by wanting to change into an Inu demon instead when she noticed that she couldn't stop the Soul Gem from turning her into a demon.

"Kitsunes are cunning manipulators and tricksters. Female Kitsunes are also seductresses. They love chaos, mischief, and playing all sort of games, especially seduction and mind games. Most Kitsunes are not evil, per say, but they don't have a reputation for being righteous creatures. They are morally ambiguous at best. Kitsunes are charming, witty, and clever. They are also calculative, devious, are very perceptive, and have a very sharp, ingenious mind. Add the fact that Kitsunes have shapeshifting powers, the ability to create illusions, can usually control one or several elements, and use elemental magic, once they have been properly trained, and you have a highly dangerous individual. Plus, unlike mortals and a lot of other civilizations, demons grow in power and strength with age. Most demons can only reach a certain level of power during their lifetime, even when they get older. However, Kitsunes can continue to grow in power for as long as they are training and learning how to use their powers. The same happens with Inu demons. The older they get, the more powerful they become.

"What about Inu demons?" The Shikon really was an evil thing. Not only it turned her into a demon, but it also wanted to make sure to turn her into the kind of demon that Isis was sure to hate being.

"Inu demons are also a dangerous demonic species. They tend to be aggressive predators who enjoy hunting and taunting their prey. They also can be possessive and dominant. Though, they are a pack oriented species which are very protective of and loyal to their family and friends to the point of putting the safety and well-being of the ones they love above their own. They also tend to be one of those demonic species which are very tactile and physically affectionate but only with the ones they consider pack members. They possess large physical strength and are very fast. Inu demons also have highly developed senses of smell and hearing. I believe that's the reason why the Shikon decided to give my Khalilah all the physical abilities of an Inu."

"So the Shikon tried to turn her into a Machiavellian, extremely dangerous, really powerful female-fatale."

"The Soul Gem did turn her into a Machiavellian, extremely dangerous, really powerful female-fatale. It combined the traits of both demonic species to turn her into an even more dangerous predator than either an Inu or a Kitsune. My Khalilah is strong and fast, calculative, sharp, and ingenious. She is a shapeshifter, with highly developed senses, the ability to create illusions and to control elemental magic, and various elements. As a Kitsune, my Khalilah can control fire, air, and water. However, she is much more than just an extremely dangerous predator. She is also an angel with purification and holy powers. She is loyal, kind, clever, protective, dauntless, and indomitable. She places the safety and well-being of others above her own, but she doesn't think of herself as good, not anymore, but she is. I wouldn't have made her my Khalilah if she isn't." The kid said.

I can say that the kid did a good description of Mystic. Since my father rarely bothered to pay attention to me, Isis took the position of mentor for me. The fact that we both have similar personality traits isn't a coincidence. I adopted a lot of those traits from her, the good ones and also the bad ones. I learned how to be manipulative, cunning, sarcastic, and defiant from her. She also taught me how to be loyal, attentive, generous, and determined. The ingenious, inventiveness, selfishness, arrogance, recklessness, destructive behavior, and womanizing tendencies are all mine, though. Now that I think about it, I remember one of those times when she was giving me an advice, and she told me the reason why she wanted for me to learn how to manipulate people and situations and to be deflective.

That day I had returned home furious one afternoon from boarding school. One of my classmates commented about how I was there because of my rich daddy status. The day before, my dad didn't give me any credit in front of the company's board meeting for an energy project I had been working on for months. Plus, I had found a way to miniaturize the arc reactor, and the old man didn't even acknowledge the design blueprints saying that those were incomplete and not advanced enough. That day at my school I lost it and yelled back at my classmate that he didn't know about all the shit I have to bear for having my dad's "status." I must have been angry enough to summon her because I thought about how it would be nice to be able to talk to somebody who would understand, and I thought about her, and she appeared in front of me.

_"You are upset. What is it?" She said, looking at me with concerned eyes._

_I told her about what was bothering me, and as I knew she would, she understood. She said, "That is, unfortunately, one of the prices someone like you pays for being in a position that entitles wealth and_ influence _the way your family does."_

_She also gave an advice about how to deal with those types of comments and the public. "Never let others see that you are upset or that they had upset you. Don't be defensive when someone offends you or upsets you. If you are nervous, you need to learn how to cover it up and hide it. Smile, laugh it up, shrug it off, be witty, polite and astute, or be sarcastic, but no defensive. Don't try to explain your actions; people will see it as you trying to justify them and your mistakes. Own your flaws, actions, and mistakes. Always be calm and collected in public and only show your true feelings to the people you trust. That doesn't mean that you are never going to show others your feelings and emotions, just that you must be very selective of the people you let your guard down around. Always remember that your emotions can be used against you, and you must guard them closely. Your words, your mind, and your wit are your best and most powerful weapon. Learn how to use them correctly, and you will be able to turn any situation to your advantage. Be charismatic, be persuasive, and be compelling. The right word at the right time has the potential to ignite conflicts or bring peaceful agreements."_

_"You mean that I need to learn how to respond to people, and know how to use my words to turn around a situation," I asked her curiously._

_"Yes. If you know how to conduct yourself and entice the right type of attention, you will move people to do as you will. You will know that you have an impact on the people around you when they either love you or hate you. If people are indifferent to you, it means that they don't consider you important enough to warrant their attention. That's the reason why I want you to show indifference to the things or the people that upset you. If you show that you hate them or resent them then, they will know that they got to you and you are acknowledging that they made an impression and had your attention. Being indifferent, it's the worst type of insult you can give them. Any type of situation can be turned around to your advantage as long as you know how to react to it and what to say."_

I also remember the time when she told me about the value of loyalty and friendship. I was about to go to start MIT, and I had promised her that I would take advantage of that time when I was going to be on my own and around other young people to make friends and meet people away from my father's imposing influence.

_"I am aware that the majority of the people that approach you and are around you do so because they want something from you. There is always going to be greedy people that are going to pretend to be interested in you, may even pretend to be your friends, and to care about you to further their own goals and benefit themselves. Now they want your father's money, influence, and power, but later they are going to be after your money, influence, and power. On the other hand, there are also going to be some people that will come into your life and are going to be genuine and truly care about you. Those people are rare, but they do exist. When you find them, you must treasure that connection._

_I'm not saying that you should trust everyone you meet. On the contrary be wary of everyone, but also be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. There may be times when the people closest to you will betray you, but that doesn't mean that everyone will. Sometimes the person you least expect is the one that will surprise you the most. Never lose sight of what is truly important. The things that truly matter, love, friendship, loyalty, and life are the things that are truly precious and irreplaceable. Those are the things that you must treasure and protect above everything else. Money and power are important, but they aren't going to guarantee you happiness. What guarantees happiness is what it's inside here." She said pointing to her heart. "not how little or how much you have. You could be the most powerful man on the planet and still be unhappy. Now it may feel like you are alone in the word and that nobody cares, but I promise you that you will find those precious things. No matter what, know that I will be there for you. Will you think about what I just said to you and really consider it? I know about that Eidetic memory of your, and you will remember what I said it_ word _for word, so I don't have to worry about you forgetting about it." She told me, and I looked at her in surprise._

_"I will. I will consider it." I replied. She smiled, then._

After I met Rhodey, I remembered what she told me, and I realized that she was right. I had found something truly precious and irreplaceable, something invaluable which I couldn't buy with money. I was going to follow her advice and protect and treasure our friendship.

Anyway, going back to the topic about the Neo-Celestials. Seraphine didn't tell me why they are called Neo-Celestials, but she told me about the relationship between Isis, Seth, and Osiris. She told me that she finds their relationship confusing. Seth and Osiris are paternal haft brothers. Osiris and Isis were or are married, which is the confusing part. According to the kid, I would get a different answer to that if I asked each one of them. Osiris says that he and Isis are married. Isis would say that Osiris is either her brother-in-law, her ex-husband, or her first husband, while Seth would say that he and Isis are the ones that are truly married. Apparently, they are all correct.

According to what the kid told me. Osiris and Isis got married, but Osiris died, and Isis and Seth fell in love with each other and got married three hundred years after Osiris' death. The screwed-up part is that Isis resurrected Osiris two hundred years after Seth and Isis got married, which rekindled a rivalry that the brothers had with each other before Isis and Osiris got married and made the brothers' rivalry worse than before. After Osiris was resurrected, the brothers were jealous of each other and would fight over Isis' affection.

Apparently, the Egyptians were right when they said that Seth killed Osiris. They only got wrong that the first time Osiris died he wasn't killed by Seth. However, most of the other times that Osiris was killed after he was resurrected, Seth was the one that killed him. After Isis resurrected Osiris the first time, it was easy for her to do it again because she already knew how to do it, and her life force was already bound to Osiris soul, so she only has to summon Osiris' soul from the Afterlife again. She has done it every time he dies, which is according to Seraphine, a frequent occurrence. Seth thinks that murdering his brother every time he feels like it is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. I thought I have seen some messed up siblings relationships, but this takes the cake. That is a screwed up love-hate relationship. With family like that who needs enemies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it. Seraphine being the eavesdropper that she is told Tony quite a few things about the Neo-Celestials. There are more things that Tony is going to find out from Seraphine, but the chapter was getting long and I decided to cut it were it is. I also introduced a new character, Ishtar.


	44. Soul Bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony learns more about the connection he and Isis share.

Isis knew that since the Soul Gem have the power to influence people's souls, there was a possibility that it could also call a soul back from the afterlife and give anyone who could use the Soul Gem the power to resurrect that person. Isis managed to find documents that confirmed her theory, but she spent the better part of the next few centuries trying to find a way to be able to use the power of the Soul Gem to do it. 

Even after Seth and she got married, Isis never gave up on trying to find a way to resurrect Osiris. Seth didn't want Isis to revive his brother, and they would argue about it. He didn't like that Isis was trying to use the power of the Soul Gem in that way because she was risking the possibility of having the Gem trying to corrupt her soul. 

The kid told me that Mystic can use the cellular generation and regeneration ability that comes from the Soul Gem's in a similar way Naraku used to create incarnations of living beings. Using someone's DNA, Isis can channel the Shikon's cosmic powers to create a person's body and merge a soul with it to give it life and a consciousness.

"Naraku used demons' DNA, and the Shikon Jewel powers to channel the cellular generation and regeneration ability the Gem gave him and the Jewel's cosmic power to generate a demon's body and give it life. Naraku used to kill several demons and used the Shikon's powers to transfer their souls, consciousness, and life force to generate a body and to make it into an entirely new person with his or her own will and personality." Seraphine said. 

In Osiris' case, Isis summoned his soul, used a small amount of his blood, and channeled the power of the Gem to materialize and generate his body, using her own soul as a life force source. She didn't revive him permanently because the process of the creation of a living, fully grown, adult body takes a tremendous amount of life force energy. 

"It would have a taken a large amount of my Khalilah's soul for her to have been able to revive Osiris as living, breathing person completely. She could have done it. She had the power to do it on her own, but the Neo-Celestials found out that my Khalilah can only use a limited amount of times the ability to create living bodies by using her own soul and life force. If she were to use the souls and life force of other living beings and only channel and use the Soul Gem as a conduit for the power, then she would be able to use the power as many times as she wants. My Khalilah refuses to benefit at the expense of the lives and suffering of others. Naraku, on the other hand, didn't hesitate or have any remorse on murdering others for his own gain. The soul Gem used that to be able to influence and manipulate him." She continued to say to me. 

Ok. Now I understand why Seth thought that the Soul Gem could have used Osiris resurrection as a way to corrupt Isis. If she were to had gone the route the evil dude Naraku used to create his demon minions, then that would have corrupted her. If Isis were to have gone the other way, with her using part of her soul to create and bring to life a living body for Osiris, then she would have died. I don't think that would have stopped her because the Soul Gem revives her when she dies. 

It looks like the Gem restores Mystic's life force and regenerates her body, but it doesn't restore her soul or at least not completely. How many times can she use her life force and part of her soul to give life to a living being before it actually kills her? And, why didn't she resurrect Osiris that way, at least the first time? If she can do it a few times, then, what stopped her from doing it with Osiris? I will have to ask Mystic those questions. 

"So, if Mystic didn't really bring Osiris back as a living person, how is he back? I mean, he looks alive to me, he is even bleeding and everything." I told the kid.

"He is a Shikigami, a simulacra; his body is made of a combination of my Khalilah's transmutation Kitsune powers, her spiritual energy, and the Soul Gem powers. He looks real, feels real, his skin has the same warmth and softness of a living person, he bleeds and feels physical sensations like an actual living being, but he isn't really alive. "Does that mean that he isn't the real Osiris. Is he like a projection of Osiris' consciousness?" 

"He is the real Osiris. His soul is possessing and controlling the Shikigami. He has his personality, thoughts, emotions, consciousness, and memories." 

"Well, I would have tried to stop Isis from resurrecting Osiris too. The Soul Gem was evil, and Seth was right. The Gem could have taken advantage of the fact that Isis had to channel the power of the Gem to try to at least influence Isis in some way. Plus, I would be feeling jealous if my wife was taking that kind of risk to resurrect her ex-husband, even if the man was my brother." I told the kid.

"She told me that she never gave up on trying to resurrect Osiris even after she married Seth. Even though she didn't intend to have a romantic relationship with Osiris anymore, Osiris was her best friend, and she wanted to have her best friend back. After Isis resurrected Osiris, Isis and he mostly kept their distance from each other for the next few decades. Osiris was very angry with Isis about the fact that she had married his brother, and they would argue about it every time they were near each other. Plus, they discovered that the bond they shared with each other was back once Osiris was resurrected, which made the strained relationship between the brothers even more conflicting." 

"I imagine how hard it was for Mystic and Osiris just to remain friend if they were feeling the effects of the bond they used to have when Osiris was alive. If their bond was anywhere near as intense as what I felt back there in that room when I was near her, then, it must have been hard for both of them to stay away from each other. I assume that their bond was, is because it's still in place, much more intense than mine and Mystic. I would guess that Osiris and Mystic had been married for centuries before he died, and they had a completed bond. You told me that the bond becomes stronger over time and with frequent close proximity."

"You are correct." She confirmed.

A bond that is centuries old must be quite intense. Unless... they couldn't. I mean knowing Mystic, she would have had tried to resist the pull of the bond and her feelings for Osiris. I guess that once Osiris got over the fact that Isis married his brother, he wouldn't have tried to resist or suppress his feelings for Isis. I don't think that the fact that Seth and Isis were married would have stopped him, especially considering that the brothers had gone back to being antagonistic towards each other. That's the reason why Seth keeps killing Osiris, isn't it? Isis and Osiris have an ongoing affair. I would assume that it isn't an always kind of thing and more of an on and off thing. Getting kill doesn't deter the man from staying away from Mystic." 

"The bond between Osiris and my Khalilah isn't as strong as if Osiris was to have been really alive. Since Osiris is technically still dead, their bond remains partially broken. Osiris and my Khalilah had been married for a little over two thousand years by the time he died, so the bond between them is still quite strong even though it's significantly weaker now. My Khalilah did manage to resist the bond and her feelings for Osiris for close to a century the first time she resurrected Osiris. Osiris and my Khalilah are occasional lovers, yes, but that isn't always the reason why Seth kills Osiris. Sometimes they fight over other things, and Seth also tends to blame Osiris for when my Khalilah does something Seth doesn't approve off." 

Then a terrifying thought came to me. "If Seth kills Osiris every time or most times he finds out that Isis and Osiris are having an affair, then, what does he do to Isis when he finds out about it?" I asked her worried. 

"Nothing. Most of the time Seth just looks disapprovingly at my Khalilah but doesn't even say anything to her. She told me that it's because Seth had known since the beginning that neither Osiris or her would be able to resist the intense pull of their bond for long. He knew that it was inevitable that Isis and Osiris would end up becoming lovers. My Khalilah feels guilty and conflicted every time she and Osiris get involved, but neither Osiris or her had been able to keep a distance from each other for more than a century. The first time it happened, Seth did take his anger on Osiris, mainly, because you were right and after Osiris anger towards Isis for marrying Seth had cool down he showed no hesitation in expressing his interest to reestablish the relationship he and my Khalilah had before he died. She told me that Seth considers that suffering from the absence and withdrawal from her bond with Osiris it's a good enough punishment for her, and he leaves her to deal with it on her own." 

"That's just discombobulated and messed up," I said to the kid. 

"Since her bond with Osiris its still mostly broken, my Khalilah doesn't go through the same overwhelming anguish she felt when the bond had been broken when Osiris died the first time, but she still feels the withdrawal symptoms of an incomplete bond. She feels very similar side effects to the ones you have with your incomplete bond with my Khalilah, but she tends to be much more… moody. She tends to become much more antagonizing and hostile after Osiris dies. She also tends to have mostly one-sided arguments with Seth about her displeasure with him continually killing Osiris. Seth mostly ignores her, acts bored and unfazed, and lets her vent her anger, which of course infuriates her even more. I'm sure he does it on purpose. He does seem to enjoy making her angry sometimes. I believe that's the reason why my Khalilah keeps resurrecting Osiris. The bond between Osiris and Isis can be conflictive and at times a source of mental, emotional, and even physical pain and anguish, but living with a permanently broken bond that had been established for thousands of years and only gets stronger as it gets older it's emotionally painful and mentally exhausting. Plus, Isis resurrecting Osiris after he gets killed really irks Seth. You could say that's the way that Isis uses to get back at Seth for killing his brother and, as a result, making Isis suffer from the withdrawal symptoms from the bond she shares with Osiris. The relationship between the three of them is very dysfunctional." She said. Dysfunctional it's an understatement. 

"So, this bond thing is an I don't like or want to have this, but I can't live without it kind of thing," I said to her thinking about a right way to describe the bond based on what Seraphine had told me so far. 

"Yes, in a lot of ways it is." 

"Can you describe the can't live without it part. I would like to know how screwed I am. Based on what I had experienced so far, I have an idea, but I would like to see the complete picture." It can't get worse than what I have experienced so far. I mean, the bond has been an absolute pain in the ass, but it has been manageable, sort of. 

"My Khalilah told me about the first time Osiris died. I think it's better if she describes it to you." 

"That kind of bad." It was more a statement than a question. 

"She knows and understands the bond, so she is the right person to answer that question." The kid doesn't even want to answer. 

Yep. It must be absolutely terrible. I can't help but wonder. For how long has this connection been there, influencing our feelings and actions? Are these even my real feelings or has everything that I have been feeling towards Isis since the moment I met her been fabricated? I need to know the answer to that. 

"Seraphine, has Isis told you about the connection the two of us share? Would you be able to tell me what it is, and how it works?" Maybe the kid can clarify my doubts. 

"My Khalilah says that you already know what it is. Midgard has a name for the type of connection the two of you share. On this planet, it's known by another name, but it's the same type of thing. She says that on this planet the term is highly romanticized and idealized." Seraphine said cryptically. 

She is right. The moment Seraphine mentioned the words connection and bond and told me what she said to me about it in that room before I got JARVIS notification about the file that had the words Living Gem written on it, I have thought about the term. I have refused to let the thought linger more than a few seconds in my head and not even to acknowledge it. The idea is just that, an idea, a myth created by someone who wanted to portray an idealized, perfect version of love. The term refers to something that only happens in an altered perception of reality created in books, movies, and songs. 

I can't deny that I toyed with the idea when I was a teenager, but I discarded it, not wanting to dwell too much on it because I realized that I would have liked for it to be true. I thought about the idea after Mystic told that me she and I shared a connection that transcended time and space. 

That time, I thought that I wouldn't have minded having my soul bound for eternity to her. That moment, I discovered how dangerous for me it was thinking about Mystic like that. No matter how much I would have liked for Mystic and me to share that type of connection, for it to be true, she was forever out of my reach. I couldn't have her, not in the way I wanted, craved, so I decided not to think about it. 

"I have a suspicion of what it could be, but I would like for you to tell me anyway?" I don't want to even think of the word. No. I'm not saying the word aloud. 

"My Khalilah told me a little about it. She told me that the connection is a soul bond. You are feeling it because yours and my Khalilah's soul are connected. The bond can be platonic or romantic. It gets strengthened with continued physical proximity. She told me that it established a sense of familiarity and ease when you first encounter each other and amplifies whatever your feelings are towards the person you share the connection with. The bond doesn't create feelings. It just amplifies whatever it's already there." There it is. Soul Bond. Humans have another name for it, but I do not doubt that it refers to the same thing.

I sighed. I'm definitely going to have a conversation later with Mystic about this. If the bond doesn't create feelings and just amplify them, then it means that these are my own emotions. I'm unsure if I should be worried or relief about it. If the bond is manipulating me into feeling emotions that I'm not really feeling, then, it would have been easy to blame all this on it. If it isn't generating emotions that are not mine, then it means that the feelings are mine. 

"Why are Isis' and my soul connected?" I asked Seraphine. 

"I cannot say. My Khalilah can explain to you how and why did your souls become connected to one another." I will take that as her trying to let me know that is a personal conversation that Mystic and I need to have.

"Is there a way to stop or block the soul bond?" I asked her. 

"Yes, but..." She hesitated for a moment. "I wouldn't recommend trying it." She finished saying. 

"You are referring to the can't live without it bad kind of thing, right?" 

"Yes. Previous incarnations of some of the others my Khalilah and the other Neo-Celestials share a bond with have tried to dissolve their bond with someone they had a completed bond with. A completed soul bond can't really be dissolved. The bond only resets to the way it was when the whole group became soul bonded. It went back to being unnoticeable, without any strength, practically dormant, but it's still there, and it will start to wake up and slowly start to get established again. Resetting a completed bond resulted in the death of both people who shared the bond that was reset. The bond can be suppressed, but it would feel like an incomplete bond. The withdrawal symptoms are milder, but still present and strong enough for it not to be a desirable option." 

"Ok. Got it. I shouldn't try to get rid of the bond." I told her. That is just another one of the growing list of things that I'm going to talk to Mystic about. 

Now that I know more about this soul bond, and I have experienced my intense reaction to being near Mystic in person, I can allow myself to accept my feelings towards her. I can let myself acknowledge that I'm entirely and painfully in love with her. I have been trying to pinpoint when it happened, and I don't know. When did it start? When did I begin to see Mystic as more than just a friend? Maybe, that's the problem. Perhaps, I have never seen her as just a friend no matter how much I have tried. 

When I met her, and we started our peculiar friendship, maybe, I saw her as just a friend. However, I can say for sure that the moment I hit puberty I definitely stopped seeing her as just a friend. I have been sexually attracted to her since I started to find myself feeling attracted to women. Even before then, I remember thinking of her as beautiful since that first moment I saw her. 

Now that I know about this strange connection we share, this.. pull I feel towards her. I know that it probably influenced how fast after meeting Mystic my feelings for her started to change. Although, I do remember when it was that I realized I wanted and desired her more than I had ever wanted or desired any other woman. It wasn't just about satisfying a sexual craving. I wanted more, much more than that. 

Of course, I refused to name the emotion I was feeling at the time, that I had been feeling for a long time before then. It happened on one of those many occasions when I was trying to get her to tell me her real name. She said she expected that I would discover her name on my own. She was right like she always is. That was the reason why I was being smug when I told Thor and the others that I figured out who she is and her name. When I told them her name, I was remembering a conversation Mystic and I had. 

At the time, I didn't pay much attention to what she said about her wanting for me to discover her name on my own, but I realized something else during that conversation. 

"Are you going to tell me your real name now? I have known you for more than twenty years, and you still haven't told me your name." I asked her. 

I wasn't expecting an answer, just like all the other times I have answered and received only a coy smile and a shake of her head, a deflective remark, or another enigmatic phrase. "You will discover my name very soon. I want you to figure it out on your own, though. Once you know my name, you will realize the truth about me." Yeah, that sounds like one of her enigmatic phrases. 

I sighed in disappointment, starting to become irritated. I'm starting to become tired of this game. "How I'm I going to know so much about you just by knowing your name? That seems very unlikely. Unless you are like a super famous person or something." 

"Or something. As I say before when you met me and asked me my name, names have power and mine is my power." She said. 

"I still don't understand a thing you say. Fine. Keep it to yourself. That is only going to make it more satisfying when I discover your identity, and I'm going to figure it out. You can be sure of that." I told her exasperated, giving up. 

I don't want to become angry with her. "I know you will figure out my name. You are very tenacious and have the sharpest mind I know." She said with a soft, fond smile. 

I was looking at her expression when she said that and something finally clicked in my brain. "All of this time you haven't told me your name because you are hoping that I will figure it out on my own. You think that I'm smart enough to do so, and I have thought that it is because you don't trust me. Now I feel bad because I thought that you were just difficult, or distrustful, or maybe wanted to antagonize me, or all of the above." She started laughing at that. 

"You do realize that I just insulted you, right," I said to her in a serious tone, frowning at her. I didn't find that funny at all, and I was beginning to become irritated again. 

"You know this is one of the many things I love about you. You are not afraid to tell me something to my face. The grand majority of the people around me are always so careful with their words because they fear to offend me. Anthony Edward Stark, you are frank and irreverent, and I love you for it." She said with that small smirk again. She says "the many things I love about you. You are frank and Irreverent," and to her, it's a compliment. 

She obviously doesn't know about the fact that everyone around me hates that I'm irreverent, frank, and sarcastic. Not even Pepper and Rhodey tolerate it for long, but she says that she loves me for it in the same way she said that I'm precious to her, with a bright smile and as natural as breathing. That was the moment when I started to realize that I was utterly fixated on her. Maybe, that was the turning point. 

The moment when I discovered that if I ever found her, I would never let her go, that my fascination with her would never go away. I still denied what I really felt for her. I remember thinking that I didn't know how I could have thought that maybe my obsession with her will fade after I learn who she is. After she is no longer a mystery to me, and I have known everything I want to know about her, my fixation would only grow stronger if I ever discovered her identity. Knowing who she is would only make me more obsessed with her. 

Once I had confirmed without a doubt her existence, and who she is, I'm wasn't going to stop until I could convince her to stay by my side. I would want to keep her and be able to call her mine, to make a claim on her for the whole world to see. I probably started falling in love with Mystic when I was a teenager, and I realized that I was attracted to her, but blamed it on teenager hormones and didn't want to consider that maybe it was something more than just sexual attraction. 

There was one particular time when I was angry and frustrated at both myself and her about the attraction I felt for her, which she didn't reciprocate. By this time, I had already stopped trying to hide from her that I was attracted to her, and I wasn't any subtle about it either. I was fifteen and attending MIT at the time. I was still trying and failing miserably to obtain the attention and approval of my dad. Puberty and teenager hormones weren't giving me an easy time with the feeling of being rejected by my own dad. I coped with it in the same way that teenagers normally would by being rebellious and dramatic. 

"You can tell me if you don't like me. It's not like that is going to be anything new. I'm used to it by now. Nobody likes me. Everybody pretends to do so. There is always something wrong with me. I'm never good enough, or I'm too much. Even my parents think so." I snarled at her, venting out all my frustrations. "I want to know what is it that you don't like about me. I can change it. I can do better. Tell me." I said now in a low, pleading tone. She was looking sadly at me. 

"My dear Khalil. I love you because you are you. There is nothing I would change about you. Everything about you is what differentiate you from everyone else. I don't want you ever to change anything about you just because you want to please someone else. If there is anything you want to change about yourself, I want it to be because you want it for yourself, and you think it would make you a better and more rounded person, not because you are trying to fit inside a mold made by somebody else's expectations of you. Be yourself. There is no one else that you must strive to be like other than yourself. Hold yourself to your own expectations and aspirations. Follow your own dream and goals. Don't let anyone tell you can't do something. The only limitations you have are the ones you set up yourself."

"But, you still don't want me," I said in a subdued voice, saddened and heartbroken by the fact that she only saw me as a friend. 

"I love you more than you can imagine, but we can't be more than friends." She said to me that time.

Thinking about it, being an independent teenager living on a university campus and having to deal with all the issues I had to deal with wasn't really conducive to adopting proper coping mechanisms. Mystic tried to curb my wild behavior, but I would either ignore her or even go out of my way to do exactly what she would say I shouldn't do. 

When she realized that her trying to keep me from my excessive proclivities only made them worse, she started to play alone instead and to give me advice on how to avoid getting in trouble and caught. She would even give me ideas and advice on how to be good at it. She would say things like "If I can't convince you to stop drinking so much, at least I can show you how to drink the proper way." 

I had discovered that thinking about her while I'm experiencing intense emotions summons her to me. I found strong emotions such as anger, pleasure, sadness, grieve, or pain have the same effect. Due to the fact that my hormonal teenager self was quite frequently feeling horny and or sexually frustrated, and I found her attractive, I was mostly continually thinking about her during… private moments. 

I haven't been able to hide the physical attraction that I feel for her, since the beginning. After a few awkward incidents, I stop to even bother to try. She would ignore being summoned by me when she knew I was going to be in any of those situations or go away and disappear immediately when she did find me in the middle of anything sex-related. Though, I have to admit that most of the time I did think about her and try to summon her on purpose. I even started to avoid telling her when I was going to go out with a girl and tried to keep my sex encounters as spontaneous as possible, so she wouldn't realize that I was going to have company and not appear when I was thinking of her. 

By the time I had entered MIT, I had already stopped feeling bashful about anything related to sex. Due to my habit of summoning her when I was in the middle of an erotic moment, Mystic had previously seemed me in every stage of undress and found me in the middle of a lot of sex-related situations. When I was at MIT, she realized that she couldn't convince me to curb my promiscuous behavior and decided to change tactics. 

"If you are determined to play seduction games and insist on my presence during them, then I'm going to show you how to do it properly. I'm going to make sure that you become a great lover even when you are not doing bedroom activities." She told me that time. 

From then on, when I summoned her when I was around a woman she would make comments, little snippets of information and advice on all sort of things like what women like or don't like, how to flirt, how to read their body language, sex techniques, positions, and kinks. 

After a while, it also became a routine for me to flirt and to say sexual innuendos to Mystic when I'm not around other people, and the two of us are alone. She would usually playfully deflect or ignore it. Sometimes, she would respond with a witty or sarcastic comment or even flirt back depending on if she notices that I'm being serious or just in the mood to mess with her. 

Over time, that has become a sort of game between us. I understand why I ended up developing a crush on her when I was a teen. It was inevitable. She is beautiful, smart, and it was evident that she had a genuine fondness for me. It was bound to happen that I would become emotionally attached to the first person that showed me any affection and liked to be around me. Plus, me being a teenager and drowning in hormones it was inevitable that my emotional attachment would be translated by my body into a lust-inducing interest, an interest that grew into much more over time.


End file.
